BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts are quitting Anthem. The 2019 game’s planned review, known as Anthem Next or Anthem 2.0, is coming to an end, BioWare said in an update on the status of Anthem.
“In a spirit of transparency and closure, we wanted to share that we have made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (also known as Anthem NEXT).” BioWare Executive Producer Christian Dailey said in a BioWare blog post
BioWare announced in February 2020, a year after Anthem’s release to a tepid response from fans and critics, that it planned to redesign the game. The goal of the Anthem review was to “reinvent the core game loop,” said then-BioWare CEO Casey Hudson. (Hudson left BioWare).
“We recognize that there is still more critical work to be done to unleash the full potential of the experience, and it will require a more substantial reinvention than an upgrade or expansion,” Hudson said last year. He explained that BioWare was pausing the Anthem seasonal updates to focus on “a long-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core game cycle with clear goals, motivating challenges, and progression with meaningful rewards, while preserving the fun. of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting ”.
BioWare released a handful of public-facing status updates to Anthem in the following months. BioWare Austin studio director Christian Dailey told players that the Anthem team’s work would be “a longer process” as it returned to the drawing board. Dailey released two gameplay updates, one focused on loot and gear objectives, and one focused on Javelin builds. Since then, Dailey has become the executive producer of the Dragon Age series, replacing Mark Darrah, who left BioWare in December.
Anthem launched for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One in January 2019.