You remember how BioWare and EA really screwed things up with Mass Effect: Andromeda? Just in case you forgot, check out our review. The gaming community exploded and went on a full-on worldwide rant, not to mention an epic Internet meme rampage (and rightly so). Now, both BioWare and EA have a chance to redeem themselves and deliver more great games, like they’ve done so many times in the past.
First on the horizon is Anthem, which was uncovered by EA last year when the publisher wowed us all with a damn fine gameplay trailer. Following today’s EA quarterly financial briefing, fresh details have surfaced for Anthem.
Answering a question regarding the forecast for Anthem, EA’s chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen stated, “Since [Anthem] is new IP, we’re being conservative in how we’re thinking about it.” Jorgensen also added that Anthem “is extremely unique and… players are going to really enjoy playing it.”
EA clearly is being “conservative” with the game’s forecast, but given the mistakes they made recently, the company’s reputation is probably worse than it has ever been. While this new info about Anthem is rather vague, you may find some comfort in these words that they are at least making an honest effort. Or perhaps they are “saying” that they are making an effort. We do live in hope they don’t ruin it and do what they did with the launch of Star Wars Battlefront 2, which lead to the microtransaction debacle.
At the beginning of 2018, Kotaku reported that development of Anthem is currently under a lot of pressure to do well internally.
Jorgensen was also very specific, stating that “the game will be shipped in the last quarter of the year, and in the last month of that quarter” (next March).
EA CEO Andrew Wilson explained that the publishers “will open new ways for fans to join the community and play early, enabling us to shape and refine the game with their input and feedback.” We’re not sure at this point, but he could be talking about public beta tests, which were mentioned a while back.
[Souces: USAGamer.net, Kotaku, PCGamesN.com]