Electronic Arts considers the launch of BioWare’s Anthem to be the beginning of a 10-year journey.
While appearing on Microsoft’s E3 livestream last week, Patrick Söderlund, Executive Vice President at EA, offered some context to the game’s show-stopping reveal, including why it’ll be a fixture of BioWare’s lineup for the next decade. The ways in which Söderlund discusses Anthem and its ambitious post-launch content plan will no doubt evoke memories of Destiny, after Bungie and Activision doubled down on their own 10-year blueprint in the build up to launch. That’ll continue with the release of Destiny 2 on September 6th.
Indeed, Anthem shares a lot of similarities with Bungie’s immensely popular shooter, and is even described as a “shared-world” RPG in the official press release:
In Anthem, a new shared-world action-RPG from EA’s BioWare studio, team up with friends as Freelancers – the bold few with the courage to leave civilization behind and explore a landscape of primeval beauty.
Wield an arsenal of Javelin exosuits, each equipped with unique weapons and abilities. Band together with friends, confront the dangers you find, and grow in power with every step.
Pre-production on Anthem began shortly after the release of Mass Effect 3 back in 2011, when BioWare’s Montreal team was given the reins of Mass Effect: Andromeda. It launched earlier this year to a raft of technical problems – facial animations proved to be a particular issue on day one – leading EA to ring the changes and place the Mass Effect franchise on ice for the foreseeable future.
Anthem, meanwhile, has been penciled in for a fall 2018 release across PS4, Xbox One, and PC.