Anthem Features Are Being Delayed To Fix Bugs And Rework Parts Of The Game

Over on Reddit, community manager Dorakaz relays a message from the lead producer and head of live services to the community, talking about how plans for the Act 1 Calendar are falling through.

Some of these features being delayed seem like things that should have been in the game from day one, including Guilds and Leader boards. Anthem's current status mirrors an early access game far more than the release of a AAA game.

Worse, the official message is now retroactively declaring the launch of Anthem to be an "early access release." The game was never sold like that, and it looks like Anthem is such a mess they can't fix it before adding new features, so they're pretending it's early access. This is some very bad news for a game that is already having dwindling player numbers. The full message from Ben and Chad, lead producer and head of live services (respectively) is below.

Hey Everyone,

It’s been 10 weeks since the early access release of Anthem. While we have been quiet publicly, we have been hard at work in the background and we wanted to provide an update on the state of the game.

The Past 10 Weeks

We have learned a lot since the game went live. We have heard a lot of feedback from all of you, and we have been working diligently to improve as many things as we can in the short term.

We’ve fixed a lot of bugs and made changes which we believe begin to point us in the right direction for the future. That being said, we know there is a long way to go before Anthem becomes the game we all want it to be. So where are we at today…

Game Update 1.1.0

Game Update 1.1.0 went live today and includes some new content and improvements to the game:

• A new Stronghold called “The Sunken Cell”

• Access to the Forge anywhere in the world

• Ability to launch a new expedition from the end of expedition menu without loading into Fort Tarsis

• Access to contracts without having to run around and pick them up

There are a bunch of additional fixes and improvements – the patch notes for Game Update 1.1.0 can be found here.

There is also a livestream later today where we will show you the Sunken Cell Stronghold and some of the other improvements in Game Update 1.1.0

Act 1 Calendar

While we have delivered many of the Act 1 features on time, we are not going to hit all the goals on our Act 1 Calendar.

We have been prioritizing things like bug fixes, stability and game flow over the new features of Act 1. We set aside time for this work, but the reality is there are more things to fix and improve than we planned for. While this is the best thing to do for the game, it means some items from the calendar will be delayed.

Features delayed:

• Mastery System

• Guilds

• Legendary Missions – Phase II

• Weekly Stronghold Challenge

• Leaderboards

• Some Freeplay Events

• Cataclysm

We want to make sure everything we add to the game has a purpose and fits with our long term goals. When we have information to share on the items above, we will do so.

Cataclysm

The Cataclysm is an important addition to the game and it’s currently a big focus for the team. The Cataclysm will bring new challenges and rewards and pushes the story of Anthem forward. As our work continues, we will share more with you in May.

Loot

We have heard your concerns around end game loot. We agree that our loot and progression systems need to be improved and we are working towards this. When we have more information to share, we will.

Communication

A lesson we have learned is we have been talking about things too early. There are so many factors that can cause us to pivot on our plans – whether it’s bugs & stability issues, player feedback, or complications with a feature that require us to take more time to deliver it. Our goal is to tell you about new content and features once the work is closer to being done.

At the same time, we want to provide more ways to get your feedback and for you to tell us what you think is fun (or not fun). To facilitate this we plan to introduce a Player Feedback Environment (PFE), an opportunity to get your feedback before we go live with major features (in the short term for PC only).

Closing

We know you have been waiting for these updates, and that you might not be pleased with where we are today. We understand and respect these perspectives.

The only thing we can say is this – We Believe in Anthem. We believe the game will be great, but we recognize getting there will take a lot of hard work. We want to do that work and we want you all to join us on the journey to get there.

Thanks for taking the time to read this update.

Ben and Chad