BioWare says Anthem’s overhaul will be a long process

BioWare is going back to the drawing board with Anthem for an overhaul of the 2019 game, which launched to a mixed response from both players and critics. That revamp of Anthem — reportedly referred to as Anthem 2.0 or Anthem Next — will be “a longer process” than people were expecting, according to BioWare Austin studio director Christian Dailey, who is leading the project.

In a post on the BioWare website, Dailey says the Anthem “incubation team has kicked off and we are starting to validate our design hypotheses” and “experimenting/prototyping to improve on the areas where we believe we fell short and to leverage everything that you love currently about Anthem.”

In other words, Dailey’s update on the (re)development of Anthem implies the process is very early and does not currently have the full force of BioWare behind it.

“We are a small team — about 30-ish, earning our way forward as we set out to hit our first major milestone goals,” Dailey said. “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.”

Dailey said BioWare Austin plans to include players in the overhauling process and “be open and honest with where we are at and what the expectations are with where we are going.”

“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 OK,” he said. “We really want to provide you all the transparency we can because of your passion and interest in Anthem. But, with that comes seeing how the sausage is made — which is not always pretty by the way.”

Dailey said that sausage exposure will come in the form of blog updates, livestreams, artwork on social media, and “the occasional feed of me curled up in a ball crying in the corner.” Relatable.

So if you’ve stuck with Anthem this long, settle in. Sounds like you have some time to see how things will ultimately shake out.

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