BioWare is really committed to Anthem 2.0 (or Anthem NEXT, or whatever they call it), bringing the poorly received game back from the brink which it tumbled over and redefining many core elements of Anthem for a new release (that we also don’t quite know what it will look like; ie. update, sequel, free or paid, etc.). First rumored last year, BioWare confirmed it was working on Anthem 2.0 earlier this year, but has remained silent about it since. Now BioWare Austin Studio Director Christian Dailey is back with an update on Anthem’s future, and the reinvention may be a little bit further out than we’d hoped.
The Anthem Incubation Team is a small group of about 30 developers prototyping, testing, and experimenting in order to “validate [their] design hypotheses.” The goal is to use the elements people love about Anthem as central pillars while retooling areas the team believes they fell short. Because it’s a smaller team tackling this project, Daily admits it’s going to make the process take a long time. “Spoiler – this is going to be a longer process. And yes, the team is small but the whole point of this is to take our time and go back to the drawing board. And a small team gives us the agility a larger one can’t afford.”
With that process, Dailey plans to include the community and keep them updated as the project moves forward. “We want to include you as we go and be open and honest with where we are at and what the expectations are with where we are going.” This isn’t going to be some big secretive revamp with a sudden unveiling and release. It’s going to be an iterative process with a healthy amount of transparency behind it. Dailey warns that it’s not always going to be pretty, though. “The reality is you will see things that look awesome but end up on the cutting room floor or things that you might think suck that you feel we are spending too much time on – but in the spirit of experimentation this is all okay.”
The blog post is just the first example as the team looks to define it’s new “cadence” of communications and transparency, which will continue to let player feedback help shape the future of the game. BioWare Austin is also working from home right now amid the pandemic, so that’s created some unexpected ripples in the water, but Dailey promises, “We’re committed to this project.”
“I am not here to over hype anything, but we do believe the changes we are making are the right ones and we hope you think so as well…but you might not and that is cool too. It is the constructive criticism and feedback we need – in either direction.” When we can expect things to get cemented is unknown, as is how BioWare plans to distribute Anthem 2.0, especially with next-gen platforms just around the corner.
[Source: BioWare]