BioWare has spoke about the numerous issues that plagued the launch of Anthem, thanking players for their patience in a pretty open and honest blog post by BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson.
Speaking about a “rougher launch than expected”, Hudson said:
“We launched a game that so many of you tell us is really fun at its core, but we also had a degree of issues that did not reveal themselves until we were operating at the scale of millions of players. We were of course very disappointed about that, as were many of you. I’ve been in there playing with you since those early days (I’m a Ranger in Edmonton Oilers colors!) and it makes me sad to hear about any issues that would hold someone back from fully enjoying the game. I take that very personally, and it’s been our top priority to get improvements out to you in the fastest, safest way.”
It’s good to hear BioWare acknowledge that Anthem’s launch wasn’t good enough, and I will give them credit for the support that they’ve given the game since, with Hudson noting that they have delivered over 200 improvements to the game through patches and live updates, improving stability, loot and progression, and more.
Continuing in his post, Hudson promised more improvements on the horizon and thanked players for sticking with the game rather than giving up:
“We also continue to listen to your feedback, with more improvements to endgame loot and progression, game flow, and stability and performance coming soon – so there’s a lot more work that we intend to do. This is all a learning experience for us, and as we work to make sure the game is improved and perfected, we can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate you staying with us. Especially because the next stage is where things really get exciting.”
Looking further forward, Hudson spoke about some features that are scheduled to be introduced to the game in the coming months, including world events and new story content, all of which will lead us into the games first Cataclysm, which will take place this Spring. Hudson acknowledged that there will be a certain level of skepticism from players, and rightly so, but he insists that BioWare will keep plodding on in their quest to make Anthem something special:
“As we move through this most difficult period of launching a new game and IP, 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.
But we understand there is skepticism out there. We hear the criticisms and doubts. But we’ll keep going anyway, working hard every day on Anthem – an ever-changing world, constantly improving and growing, and supported well into the future by our team of passionate developers.
With Anthem we’re trying something a little different than we’ve done before. And likewise our upcoming games will be different from Anthem. But with everything we do, we focus on staying true to our mission, creating worlds that inspire you to become the hero of your own story. So what’s most important to us is you, the players who have supported us in this journey. And we’re excited to prove that with Anthem, the best is yet to come.”
So, the best is yet to come. Let’s hope that’s the case, as we had very mixed feelings about BioWare’s first venture into the loot shooter market in our Anthem review. BioWare will probably be desperate to find a way to improve Anthem’s sales figures too, following yesterdays news that the game had dropped out of the UK top 10 for the first time since its launch.
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