Bioware has recently announced that their latest release, Anthem, is receiving a change in its post-launch content structure. In a blog post, Chad Robertson, Head of Live Service, detailed how the game is going to progress moving forward. Following the game’s recent Cataclysm event, the company has noted many problems and have addressed fixes to them. However, Bioware believes there is much to be done to this title.
The particular portion of the post detailing the future of the game is as follows:
“So what’s next for Anthem?
We hear your concerns on core issues in Anthem and are acting on it. Those systems require a more thorough review and re-working versus quick fixes. We’ve got a team working on that now, and early results are promising.
In order to address these long-range plans, we are moving away from the Acts structure for updates. Instead, we have additional seasonal updates planned for this year that we think players will enjoy. These events will deliver challenges and chases similar to what you’ve seen, and are built around some fun themes we’re bringing to the game.
As I’ve said previously, we want to be transparent with you that we know more work needs to be done to make Anthem better. We also want to ensure we’re backing up our words with a great game you can play. So I don’t have any news today to share about the long-term changes we are bringing to Anthem. What I can say is that we will continue to engage with you, our community, through PTS when we can show you what is coming.”
Breaking this down reveals that Bioware wishes to dispose of the previous Acts structure of updates in order to provide more Seasonal updates. This is to promote more “long-range plans” rather than quick fixes to the game. It appears as if the company is beginning an overhaul process of this release. In doing so, Bioware presumably believes that this can provide a more meaningful experience for users and can keep them coming back.
The exact long-term content changes that are due to arrive were not detailed. However, there was a promise that more communication is going to occur between the developers and the community.
These changes may not be the best for the release, however, they might be the only things that can happen. Anthem has suffered from a notorious launch which was plagued by bugs, glitches, and price drops. As more popular titles begin to launch this year, players are sure to have less of a reason to come back to this release. This plan for future content is the first step in attempting to reel players in but it may appear as a long shot. Mostly due to many customers having a sour taste in their mouth from not only this game’s launch but also their previous effort in Mass Effect: Andromeda. For now, the upcoming restructuring resembles an attempt at putting this game on life support to stay afloat.