An Anthem Reboot May Be Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

A former BioWare producer has expressed interest in rebooting Anthem, an ambitious live service title from 2019 that never reached its full potential. Though Anthem has something of a cult following, any attempt at a comeback will be under the strain of its associated problems.

Ben Irving, an executive producer at Crystal Dynamics and formerly a lead producer at BioWare, recently brought up his interest in bringing back Anthem. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) from earlier this month, Irving mentions that he’d love to reboot Anthem one day. He continued in a repost, saying “It’s amazing how many people are still so enthusiastic about Anthem so many years later.” Despite Anthem shutting down two years after release, Irving’s post still saw an enthused response from many fans—proving that the game still has an audience.

An Anthem Reboot Would Have To Struggle Against The Original’s Reputation And BioWare’s Disinterest

However, despite Anthem continuing to receive attention, the title has a lot holding it back from a renaissance. Not only was the game unsuccessful, but its history was one of controversy and heavy critique. Furthermore, BioWare has moved on from Anthem; though the IP was once destined to kickstart a new franchise for the studio, there’s little reason for it to revisit the game now.

Anthem Lacked A Strong Concept

Anthem was originally codenamed “Project Dylan,” a reference to Bob Dylan and, by extension, the cultural impact BioWare believed the game would have. Despite these lofty goals, Anthem ended up being a fairly banal looter-shooter, lacking in both content and a way to draw in players. In a similar fashion to this year’s Concord, Anthem was entering a competitive space with neither big IP backing nor a substantially unique premise—with its marketing centering on some typical sci-fi trappings. This was highlighted by the game’s E3 2018 showing, which was stingy on details and proper gameplay footage.

What Anthem does have is its flying mechanic, perhaps the aspect most lauded by fans. The movement offered by flight, especially through lush, open spaces, had great promise. On the other hand, the system is still held back by the lack of things to do beyond dull grinding. In that respect, Anthem had the same issue as Fallout 76—launching with a roadmap of content that wasn’t in the game yet. Where Fallout 76 had the strength of its IP to fall back on, though, gamers simply didn’t give its unknown counterpart the time of day. If BioWare ever wants to bring back Anthem, it should lean into its singleplayer strengths, deliver more quantity and variety in content, and center the title around flight.

Anthem’s Development Was Beyond Troubled

Mechanical flaws may not be the biggest hindrance to Anthem‘s return, though. Jason Schreier’s Kotaku article “How BioWare’s Anthem Went Wrong” exposed just how problematic Anthem‘s development truly was, with the piece becoming a key factor in the game’s downfall. In this article, an anonymous employee claimed that “depression and anxiety are an epidemic within Bioware,” while another reported that both Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem had ‘stress casualties’—an internal term for developers who had to leave BioWare for up to three months due to an immensity of mental turmoil.

Though BioWare, in a statement posted minutes after the article was released, partially rebuked these allegations (claiming “the health and well-being of our team members is something we take very seriously”), the studio was simply unable to turn the tide of public opinion. The weight of these reports combined with Anthem‘s poor state on launch saw a game that sold millions of copies become bereft of players. Considering how much fans are enjoying Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which many are calling a return to form for BioWare, there’s little reason for the studio to try and revive Anthem and its controversial reputation.