4 years ago
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Bioware has issued an update on the state of the Anthem overhaul, noting that the revamp is still in the incubation period and that the creation of a new version of the game will be a "longer process."
In a statement on the Bioware blog, project lead Christian Daley outlined the current state of Anthem 2.0, noting that regardless of the current circumstances, the team is committed to the project.
The 30-strong team behind the game are currently working from home due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Daley notes that the game's incubation phase has kicked off.
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In his own words, Daley describes the incubation phase as a prototyping period. "We are starting to validate our design hypotheses," Daley's statement reads. "We are going back and experimenting/prototyping to improve on the areas where we believe we fell short and to leverage everything that you love currently about Anthem." According to Daley, the nature of this approach means Anthem 2.0 will "be a longer process," so don't expect the new version of the game to arrive anytime soon.
"The team is small but the whole point of this is to take our time and go back to the drawing board," Daley notes. "A small team gives us the agility a larger one can't afford."
Daley also talked about transparency, and assured fans that they would "see things that look awesome but end up on the cutting room floor or things that you might think suck that you feel we are spending too much time on." In the spirit of experimentation, the team want to bring those interested in Anthem along for the ride, but Daley notes that "seeing how the sausage is made" is not always pretty.
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Anthem's overhaul was announced in February, with BioWare general manager Casey Hudson admitting that the game “needs a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression, and a more fulfilling end game.” Clearly, much of that is still in the ideas phase, with hands-on development work yet to begin. Daley doesn't give a sense of how long that might take to begin.
The Anthem 2.0 team is also planning to bring ad-hoc live streams and updates to fans as they follow the game. "Stay tuned as we kick this off and we hope to see/hear from you as we go on this journey (stronger) together." For more on Anthem, check out our piece on how the game's first anniversary was celebrated by fans, but not Bioware.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.