BioWare is one of the most renowned video game developers of all time, but even the most adored studios can make mistakes. Bursting onto the scene in 1996 with Shattered Steel, promptly followed by the acclaimed Baldur's Gate in 1998, BioWare quickly made a name for itself in the industry. In 2002, BioWare released Neverwinter Nights, then Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic a year later, followed by Jade Empire in 2005, capping the streak off in 2007 with Mass Effect. However, jumping forward to the late 2010s, BioWare made two big mistakes in a row, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and Anthem.
Dropping in 2019, Anthem is a third-person action game where players suit up in a Javelin, an exosuit capable of flight, packed with high-tech weaponry. Though the game's presentation was solid and its gameplay mechanics felt satisfying, Anthem attempted a live-service model, and due to unknown factors, BioWare stumbled at every hurdle after Anthem's launch, leading to the game and its 2.0 update being scrapped mid-development.
What BioWare Was Planning to Improve Upon in Anthem 2.0
At its very core, Anthem was not a bad game. In fact, the concept of Anthem is actually a pretty neat one, and one that should appeal to any exosuit or Iron Man fans. In theory, players would be able to hop into their unique, customizable exosuit, take flight, and rain gunfire down on a variety of enemies in a number of unique biomes. The promise before launch was that BioWare would be consistently updating Anthem with new areas, enemies, Javelins, and customization options, in a similar vein to other live-service games like Destiny.
In practice, however, Anthem just didn't live up to its premise, with some severe technical issues, half-baked mission objectives, and an unoriginal story that didn't seem up to BioWare's usual narrative standard. In the year that followed Anthem's release, both BioWare and EA made several promises that the game would eventually get fixed, and that a whole slew of new content would be coming, finally delivering on the original promises made by the developer and publisher. This new, finished version of the game would be called Anthem 2.0.
Some of the biggest improvements BioWare was aiming to make revolved around the game's Javelins, and the ability to customize them. In the base game, players hardly had any freedom in how their Javelin looked, or how it performed, and Anthem 2.0 sought to remedy that. BioWare was going to introduce a Primary and Secondary weapon system, allowing each weapon to feel more distinctive, and Components were going to be replaced with two unique Mod and Artifact slots, allowing for more in-depth customization.
Rather than just being able to equip one Ability at a time, Anthem 2.0 would allow players to unlock Abilities by leveling up, and would allow those Abilities to remain active permanently. These Abilities could then be enhanced in a number of ways via the new Mod system, while the Artifact item would act as a powerful new special weapon for the Javelin. Similarly, the whole progression system was going to receive a large-scale rework, in which players could now level up each of their Javelins individually, which would reward the player with skill points, which could then be used on upgrades unique to that chassis, such as special Abilities, and stat boosts.
A new Specialization system would also be introduced, allowing each Javelin to be upgraded via a specific skill tree path, and further increasing the amount of customization players would have over their exosuit. Players would also be heavily rewarded for taking the time to customize their Javelin efficiently, with the armor receiving a significant stat boost if the build's Abilities, Equipment, and Specializations all worked in synergy with one another.
On the whole, it seemed as though BioWare had truly listened to fan feedback, and was willing to make the changes necessary to fix Anthem. One of the biggest points of criticism for Anthem was that its main selling point, its Javelins, weren't nearly as unique or complex as BioWare had made them out to be before release, and with Anthem 2.0, that was all finally set to change.
What Happened to Anthem 2.0?
Despite detailing such a promising future, Anthem 2.0 would be officially canceled just one year later, with both EA and BioWare making joint statements that confirmed that the game would no longer be receiving updates. Officially, the developer and publisher cited the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the major reasons behind the decision, and also stated that Anthem was being axed so that BioWare could focus all of its efforts on the still-upcoming Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, with the latter now being revealed to be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
On the surface, these reasons seem perfectly justifiable. The pandemic swept the globe within just a few months, throwing the world as we know it into total disarray for the next two years. During the pandemic, game developers were open about their struggles, detailing how hard it was to complete group projects when isolated away from each other. Countless video games that were originally slated for a 2020 or 2021 release were delayed due to the disruption, and the industry is still seeing that fallout now.
Similarly, after the disappointing release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, it seems likely that both EA and BioWare would want to repair the damage done to the brand before it was too late, so focusing all the developer's efforts on the new Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles was a smart move for the time. However, the initial backlash to Anthem may have been the factor that finally nailed its coffin shut.
Simply put, the initial backlash to Anthem when it released was monumental. From even before the game actually released, based on first impressions from the beta, BioWare fans were extremely vocal about their disappointment. It wasn't long before anyone and everyone had heard that Anthem was a bad game. Anthem eventually found itself as a leading candidate for the worst games of the year, so the damage to the brand was done. COVID and BioWare's other titles were certainly factors behind Anthem 2.0's cancellation, but that initial tidal wave of fan disappointment must have played a heavy part in Anthem's downfall.
Anthem is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
