In the years since Anthem‘s release, both Electronic Arts and BioWare have been fairly transparent about the fact that the mission-based jetpack-shooter did not land with either critics or the audience. BioWare, the developers behind classic titles like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, implied that they were going to do their best to fix the lowest-rated game in the studio’s recent history, though exactly how was never made clear.
Now, two days after the two-year anniversary of Anthem’s original release date, BioWare Austin executive producer Christian Dailey has confirmed in a blog post that Anthem is never going to get the planned revival BioWare had hoped for.
“In the spirit of transparency and closure we wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (aka Anthem NEXT),” Dailey wrote.
Rumors were stirring since Anthem’s initial launch, met with glitches, incomplete mission design, and a general lack of BioWare’s traditional storytelling, that the studio was planning to reboot the game and try again for a future release. When making an internal case, developers reportedly pointed to Final Fantasy XIV and No Man’s Sky as examples of what a rebooted Anthem could aspire to with enough time and resources.
Dailey insists that Anthem will stay alive as a live service game, but it is unlikely to get anything beyond its current level of support.
