Anthem Sprint Button Will Be Added to Fort Tarsis on Launch Day

Anthem’s VIP demo launched with a host of issues, many of which concerned players’ inability to connect to the game. Amidst all of that excitement, an entirely different problem seems to have flown under the radar. In Fort Tarsis, an area that acts as each player’s home base, sprinting is not allowed. Thanks to player feedback, however, BioWare will enable the sprint button for Anthem’s full release. It appears this option won’t be available in the upcoming public demo.

Casey Hudson, BioWare’s General Manager, confirmed the news with GamesRadar. According to Hudson, a “run speed” did exist for Fort Tarsis in one build of Anthem. Yet, for some reason, the feature failed to make it into the game’s demo build.

The reason behind the walking speed’s original implementation in Fort Tarsis was to allow players to feel human for a time. This is according to Executive Producer on Anthem, Mike Darrah, who recently told GamesRadar, “we want it to feel like walking. If you look at most video games, you’re sprinting everywhere and we gave you a jet pack machine for when you’re out in the world, and we really want it to feel like you’re just a person walking around and now you are that person in Iron Man armour.”

Evidently, BioWare’s plans for movement speed in Fort Tarsis worked better as a concept. Fans weren’t pleased with being forced to slow down, especially not when there’s the experience of soaring in a jet pack waiting beyond the compound’s walls. Luckily, players will receive the option to set their own pace come launch day.

This move is but another that demonstrates how well BioWare responds to player feedback. Before the VIP demo’s launch, the studio announced it will introduce a 16-player social hub for Anthem on day one, despite the team’s previously noting that such a hub space would not exist. Here’s to hoping BioWare can maintain this momentum.