BioWare Anthem launch was a “wide ride” according to General Manager Casey Hudson. The BioWare GM has released a “Post Launch Update” on the developer’s website. In the post, Hudson discusses the problems they’ve faced since the launch of Anthem as well as their hopes for Anthem going forward.
Early in the blog post, Casey Hudson reveals the Anthem launch has been “rougher … than expected” for BioWare. However, Hudson admits, “I think back we also knew that big new online games tend to hit some kind of problem once they go live, so as much as we tested and prepared to make sure everything was ready, we were also ready for the possibility that unexpected issues might arise at launch.”
Hudson states that since launch the “Live” team has released over 200 improvements to the game via patches and updates. While BioWare was “very disappointed” about the issues since launch that needed fixing, Hudson mentions those types of issues are not fixable until they “reveal themselves” once millions of players are in the game.
Hudson expresses his personal disappointment in hearing about poor experiences: “… it makes me sad to hear about any issues that would hold someone back from fully enjoying the game,” he says. I take that very personally, and it’s been our top priority to get improvements out to you in the fastest, safest way.”
Hudson says the studio is listening to feedback with regards to endgames loot, progression, game flow, and performance and that there’s “a lot more work that we intend to do.” Anthem is BioWare’s first attempt at a large-scale online project and Hudson admits “this is all a learning experience for us … we can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate you starting with us.” Hudson adds, “With Anthem we’re trying something a little different than [what] we’ve done before.”
The BioWare GM concludes the post by firmly looking to the future,“The next stage is where things get really exciting. We are also working on the things that will really show what Anthem is capable of – a series of world events, new story content, and new features, that all build towards the Cataclysm later this spring.” Hudson says he recognizes why players may be skeptical about the future of the Anthem but “we’ll keep going anyway.” Hudson closes out the update, “And we’re excited to prove that with Anthem, the best is yet to come.”
It is hard to argue with Hudson that Anthem has had a tough launch. A range of issues from bricked PS4s to bugged starting weapons has plagued the game. BioWare lead producer Ben Irving recently defended the game in response to a Reddit post, insisting the apparent lack of some features were the “cost of transparency.” We gave the game a 2.5 rating in our Anthem review.
