An Anthem developer says Bioware hopes to avoid many of the mistakes made by its strongest competition, confirming Destiny and The Division were among the games the studio looked to for inspiration and guidance during development. Technical Design Director Brenon Holmes also says fans probably won’t have to wait too long for their next sneak peek at Anthem.
Both comments appeared in the Anthem subreddit, where Holmes has a reputation for responding to reasonable fan queries, but the threads in which the updates appear couldn’t be more different. In one, Holmes responds to a handful of structural questions from someone who just seems tired after struggling (and failing) to find the experience they wanted in The Division and Destiny. Like many of us, redditor Biggy_DX wanted to know if Anthem would offer new solutions to common genre problems, like the underwhelming endgame content in Ubisoft and Bungie’s franchises. And it sounds like there might be a few Guardians and Agents over at Bioware.
“Both of the games you list are in the competitive space for Anthem, so yes - we're looking at all aspects of those games (as well as many others),” Holmes wrote in response. “Generally we look to have 'mentor' games for specific features, we try to learn from what a particular game has done well and what could be improved.”
There’s still a fair amount of excitement for Anthem left over from last year’s gameplay reveal. But a fall launch timeline is increasingly difficult to believe as continue to wait for a second trailer. There haven’t even been new screenshots. But in another thread, about the potential addition of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Holmes says there’s a chance we could see Anthem again “before spring/summer.”
For a very early look at Anthem, while we continue waiting for Bioware to begin promoting the game more consistently, check out the gameplay footage that debuted at E3 2017. Then head down to the comments and let us know how you’re hoping to see Anthem build upon the foundation prepared by Destiny, The Division and their ilk.
Anthem is in development for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The game is expected to launch this fall.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Anthem news in 2018 and however long Bioware supports Anthem after launch.
