When we got our first look at Anthem last year, pretty much everyone took a glance and thought it was a clear case of BioWare taking inspiration from the wild success of Destiny but did Anthem copy Destiny? BioWare recently said that the game was in the works long before Destiny was sending us off to shoot aliens in the face. Anthem arrives in February for PC and console, though we’re not entirely sure what to expect from the game.
Speaking with JeuxVideo, Anthem‘s lead producer Michael Gamble tackled the question of whether Anthem is simply copying Destiny, saying that “It’s interesting because Anthem has been in development since before Destiny even came out.” Gamble goes on to say that “games these days are influenced by the games out in the market to a certain degree,” (via GamingBolt).
Gamble’s comments are still a little ambiguous and though he makes clear that Anthem was in the works previously to Destiny‘s reveal, he also seems to infer that the BioWare title was changed to suit the apparent market change that Destiny brought about, meaning we could possibly have seen a very different looking game from BioWare.
And to be fair, we’re still not entirely sure what to expect from Anthem. Combat has been the focal point of pretty much everything we’ve seen, leaving some unsure of what the game’s story has in-store. Gamble and fellow producer Ben Irving recently touched on the story in a series of tweets, with Gamble saying that Anthem‘s playtime for critical story was ‘tough to answer,’ while Irving said it’s ‘hard to compare’ Anthem to the other BioWare titles. One reason for the comparisons being difficult is down to Anthem‘s non-linear style, allowing players to skip ahead in the story if they want to play with friends, a decision that’s cast further doubt over how crucial the story is to the game. For now, though, it’s inevitable that the two will be compared and contrasted right up until launch and beyond.