The struggling third-person shooter Anthem received a much needed shot in the arm last month when the oft delayed Cataclysm event finally arrived. The free event added a ton of new content into the game from various arenas and enemies to fight, new loot to find, as well as new story elements to take in. However, this event was always intended to be temporary, setting off fears from players that Anthem would fall back into old patterns once the event was over. A blog post from BioWare this week intended to address those concerns, though it may have only made them worse.
Chad Robertson, Anthem's Head of Live Service, posted a blog yesterday discussing what was next for the game, attempting to continue to build off of the positive reaction to the Cataclysm event. He started off talking about the Public Test Server and how the players there helped shape the event prior to its arrival to the public. Through feedback, the team was able to better balance combat, adjust the crystal economy, present players with more choice through additional reward chests, and fix various bugs.
Now that the game has since joined EA Access, fans are wondering what's next in terms of major content. The big reveal is that the previously revealed post-launch content and story Acts are getting scrapped entirely. Instead, BioWare is planning seasonal updates that attempt to deliver new challenges and chases build around certain themes. The team is also acting on player concerns and core issues, though the systems in question require bigger fixes and complete reworks rather than smaller or quicker updates.
Unfortunately, the entire post is extremely light on details. Robertson ends the post by saying that the team wants to be transparent with its players, but goes on to say that he does not have any news to share about the previously hinted at long-term changes and content updates. Naturally, this admission has not sat well with a community that is already desperate for changes.
For all the goodwill Anthem may have received during the Cataclysm event, as small as it may have been, the optics on this post have driven the community back towards disappointment. While getting an update on what's next for Anthem is typically appreciated, the post itself is sorely lacking in any sort of detail. When compared to a similar live-service game like Destiny 2 and its approaching Shadowkeep expansion, the difference in approach by both studios is glaring. Bungie has been nothing but open over the past month revealing new gameplay details through a variety of methods like blog posts, social media, and video content. For a game that is consistently fighting to win back players, this week's vision of the future may have only damaged things further.
Anthem is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: BioWare
