Anthem was announced last year at E3 with a fantastic trailer and a release date of fall 2018. Now the game's release date has been pushed back to 2019. A new report says that the release of the game was pushed back because the original date was "never realistic."
This is another woe for publisher EA that's still feeling problems from the disastrous launch of Star Wars: Battlefront II.
Hopes Of Survival
The new report about Anthem's pushed back date indicated that Bioware wasn't going to be able to finish the game in the allotted time frame. It also indicates that the game developers are feeling the pressure to ensure the survival of Bioware in the making of Anthem.
Anthem's release is likely to happen before March 2019, which is the of EA's fiscal year.
EA initially acquired Bioware in 2007, opening offices in Austin, Montreal, and Virginia. The publisher later closed the offices in Montreal and Virginia. Closure of the Montreal office came from the disappointing sales of 2017's Mass Effect Andromeda.
Developers are Bioware expect this title to be a make it or break it moment for Bioware. Expectations are high for the game that debuted with a trailer that immediately drew comparisons to Destiny. Some even went as far to call Anthem a "Destiny killer."
Destiny is suffering at the moment. A lot of its fanbase is drying up due to changes that overhauled the game in the sequel. It would have been a good time for a similar shooter-looter style game to swoop in and grab hold of a fanbase clamoring for good gameplay.
Some of the developers were also afraid of Youtubers. They say that the online community painted EA as a villain during the microtransaction problems it faced with Star Wars Battlefront II.
Bioware is known for making critically-acclaimed and successful role-playing games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age Origins.
Anthem Troubles
Recent reports from Anthem have been troubling. Some are painting the game on its last legs. Most of the problems that the developers have been having with the game are due to the game's engine Frostbite. Frostbite was originally designed for EA's Battlefield games.
A former BioWare developer spoke out against EA's monetization policies. A member of Anthem's development team then said that adding loot boxes was still an active discussion at Bioware. Looking back through EA's titles show that there is little to no chance that the game will be without loot boxes.
