Anthem Twitter Thread

Ken Fairclough @kenfairclough
Here's another concept I had the privilege to work on for Anthem that I am particularly proud of. I love the blue and white palette the interior of For Tarsis had in contrast to the warm reds and oranges of the market immediately outside the gates. #Anthem #BioWare #conceptart

Jason Schreier @jasonschreier
NEWS: For the last year and a half, BioWare has been in "incubation" mode overhauling the maligned online game Anthem.

This week, EA will review the progress of "Anthem Next" and decide whether to expand the team or put an end to the project.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-08/electronic-arts-to-decide-fate-of-anthem-game-this-week



"This week, EA executives will review the latest version of Anthem Next and decide whether to expand the team or abandon the project, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. The Anthem Next team includes about 30 people, BioWare said last year. People familiar with the project said it will need to expand to at least triple that in order to produce new content and continue attempting to overhaul the game. EA has not yet indicated whether it’s willing to commit that kind of budget to revive a maligned game."

Jonathan Warner @bio_Warner
It has been amazing to see all of this love for @anthemgame this week. You are wonderful people and I love you #IBelieveInAnthem #StrongerTogether

Will Laterveer @willielaterveer
Will we get an update on Anthem Next this week?

Jason Schreier @jasonschreier
Dunno. Obviously the people at BioWare Austin are dealing with way bigger problems rn

𝕽𝖎𝖈𝖔 𝕱𝖑𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖘 @r1c00
More behind the scenes in this 2 year anniversary of #AnthemGame Here is some footage from one of our Interceptor mocap shoot.



You might recognize this one as the Interceptor's sprint jump. This move was improvised on the stage by Adam Chase, whose stunts filled out most of this character's unique traversal.



The Interceptor dash was going to be a series of flips for a while, but that direction didn't end up working for gameplay so we pivoted. Here is some of that what it might have looked like.



Group pic at the end as always. It was a good day at the stage

Anthem Update
blog.bioware.com/2021/02/24/anthem-update/
by Author -Christian Dailey - Posted onFebruary 24, 2021

Friends,

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). We will, however, continue to keep the Anthem live service running as it exists today.

Since Anthem’s launch, the team has been working hard to continually improve the game, releasing multiple updates that brought with them a variety of improvements and introduced new content to play. Towards the end of 2019 we expanded on that effort and started working on a more fundamental restructure of the game.

During the development we’ve provided updates revealing some of the team’s work through blog posts and conversations with you on social media and it’s been inspiring for us to see the positive reactions and feedback. I’ve been incredibly proud of the work the team has been doing, and excited to see and play each new build of the experience.

2020 was a year unlike any other however and while we continue to make progress against all our game projects at BioWare, working from home during the pandemic has had an impact on our productivity and not everything we had planned as a studio before COVID-19 can be accomplished without putting undue stress on our teams.

I know this will be disappointing to the community of Anthem players who have been excited to see the improvements we’ve been working on. It’s also disappointing for the team who were doing brilliant work. And for me personally, Anthem is what brought me to BioWare, and the last two years have been some of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my career.

Game development is hard. Decisions like these are not easy. Moving forward, we need to laser focus our efforts as a studio and strengthen the next Dragon Age, and Mass Effect titles while continuing to provide quality updates to Star Wars: The Old Republic.

To the Anthem community, thank you for your passion and creativity. Your feedback and suggestions most certainly help shape the team’s direction, and on a personal note, your kindness and encouragement were much needed last year.

Please stay safe and be kind to each other. Strong alone, stronger together.

Christian

Andy McNamara @therealandymc (Director of Comms Strategy at Electronic Arts)
I wasn’t at EA when Anthem launched or part of any planning for NEXT, but I was here for many discussions leading to this moment. This stuff isn’t as easy as people think. Everyone involved with the game, including those in leadership, were concerned about players & the game.

I see people ripping BioWare for this, and I know I can’t change that, but covid has been a global challenge and these type of decisions aren’t easy for them. Anyway, less hate. More hope. Folded hands I am saddened about Anthem but the teams are hard at work on some amazing stuff.

David Mergele @elegrem
Last day working on Anthem today. Been on this project since mid 2017. Cheers to all my amazing teammates I've had, lost, and gained. Onto the next project at BioWare. #StrongerTogether

Anthem @anthemgame
Freelancers. Tomorrow at 9AM ET, Anthem will undergo a short period of scheduled server maintenance for up to a few hours. We appreciate your patience during this time.

In this 2019 GDC talk, BioWare's David Hoang and Daniel Nordlander the process of creating some of the unique traversal system of Anthem.