BioWare's new IP: Anthem

I paid 41 Euro for launch copy.
Blade-Runner said:
And considering that the Anthem subreddit has lately been in open revolt, there isn't likely to be much of an online population for much longer in order to sustain ongoing sales of the game.
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OMG OMG ...
 
polonyc2 said:
Anthem was in fact the best-selling game of February, and is now the second best-selling game of 2019...Anthem is BioWare’s second best selling launch title of all time, losing out only to the critically acclaimed Mass Effect 3...

https://www.pcgamesn.com/anthem/anthem-sales-numbers
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Those statements mean absolutely nothing. It was the second best selling game of the year, in February and only for the US. A whole two months into the year. Second best launch (in the US) next to Mass Effect 3. Okay, ME3 shipped 860k units in the US on launch. So Anthem in somewhere under that. No mention of how far under it so it makes the statement nothing more than marketing fluff. You are also only looking at a single month. Look at the March numbers. It was not even mentioned in the March NPD report. That means it completely fell off the top 10 within a month. It went from #1 to not even charting within a single month. The other major charts have it dropping quickly as well. It should also be noted that neither EA nor Bioware commented on launch numbers or first month sales. In fact, Bioware had to rush out to assure people that they weren't going anywhere and that they were committed to supporting Anthem.
 
Well Bioware rushed their announcement that there supporting the live service which was mentioned often enough before the launch during the launch and after the launch. Take your pick of which one Bioware did in a blind panic?
 
Blade-Runner said:
Leaving aside the dubiousness of that article, such a vague metric without revenue figures to back it up are absolutely meaningless when the game has been available at bargain bin prices for most of its retail life.

PC copies can still easily be found at 50% off, and console copies are even more heavily discounted at 66% off for the PS4 version in my region.

Being the best selling game doesn't amount to much when most of the copies sold only generate half the revenue of a full priced game. It is quite evident Anthem is not meeting revenue projections otherwise EA would have released an announcement gloating about its success.
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there's nothing dubious about it since the info is not coming from EA or BioWare but from the NPD...Anthem is selling well...it doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever, it just means that a lot of people bought the game...which is not surprising after all the marketing and hype, plus it's a AAA game from a AAA developer/publisher...again sales don't necessarily translate to quality but it's still an impressive feat...the pace NPD is listing here means that Anthem is outperforming Mass Effect 1-2, Andromeda and Dragon Age 1-3...that isn’t nothing, and it’s doing so with far worse reviews than any of those games had, and the early demos for the game were racked with technical issues so it wasn’t exactly wowing anyone in that regard during early previews

so all things considered Anthem is a hit...I've said from the beginning that it's going to take ~12 months before the final verdict can be written as far as the game...whether they are selling for half price or full price doesn't matter...The Division 1 dropped fast but got a second life because of all the sales so in a way it can only help Anthem...the overall mechanics are sound, it just needs refinement and more content...I can see the game rebounding and thriving in a few months if EA/BioWare continue to fix things
 
polonyc2 said:
so all things considered Anthem is a hit...I've said from the beginning that it's going to take ~12 months before the final verdict can be written as far as the game...whether they are selling for half price or full price doesn't matter...The Division 1 dropped fast but got a second life because of all the sales so in a way it can only help Anthem...the overall mechanics are sound, it just needs refinement and more content...I can see the game rebounding and thriving in a few months if EA/BioWare continue to fix things
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This is becoming a thing. Release a half baked game then polish it later. Division 1.8, Destiny 1's Taken King, Destiny 2's Forsaken.. now Anthem. Though, i'm not convinced with the Bioware drama that Anthem can be saved. Nothing has been drug through the mud more than that game.

People still playing it and have been at "endgame" early on, what are you doing in the game?
 
polonyc2 said:
there's nothing dubious about it since the info is not coming from EA or BioWare but from the NPD...Anthem is selling well...it doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever, it just means that a lot of people bought the game...which is not surprising after all the marketing and hype, plus it's a AAA game from a AAA developer/publisher...again sales don't necessarily translate to quality but it's still an impressive feat...the pace NPD is listing here means that Anthem is outperforming Mass Effect 1-2, Andromeda and Dragon Age 1-3...that isn’t nothing, and it’s doing so with far worse reviews than any of those games had, and the early demos for the game were racked with technical issues so it wasn’t exactly wowing anyone in that regard during early previews

so all things considered Anthem is a hit...I've said from the beginning that it's going to take ~12 months before the final verdict can be written as far as the game...whether they are selling for half price or full price doesn't matter...The Division 1 dropped fast but got a second life because of all the sales so in a way it can only help Anthem...the overall mechanics are sound, it just needs refinement and more content...I can see the game rebounding and thriving in a few months if EA/BioWare continue to fix things
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That is some amazing mental gymnastics on "Anthem is a hit". This game isn't going to exist in 12 months.
 
polonyc2 said:
there's nothing dubious about it since the info is not coming from EA or BioWare but from the NPD...Anthem is selling well...it doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever, it just means that a lot of people bought the game...which is not surprising after all the marketing and hype, plus it's a AAA game from a AAA developer/publisher...again sales don't necessarily translate to quality but it's still an impressive feat...the pace NPD is listing here means that Anthem is outperforming Mass Effect 1-2, Andromeda and Dragon Age 1-3...that isn’t nothing, and it’s doing so with far worse reviews than any of those games had, and the early demos for the game were racked with technical issues so it wasn’t exactly wowing anyone in that regard during early previews

so all things considered Anthem is a hit...I've said from the beginning that it's going to take ~12 months before the final verdict can be written as far as the game...whether they are selling for half price or full price doesn't matter...The Division 1 dropped fast but got a second life because of all the sales so in a way it can only help Anthem...the overall mechanics are sound, it just needs refinement and more content...I can see the game rebounding and thriving in a few months if EA/BioWare continue to fix things
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You are ignoring March’s NPD results.
 
Derangel said:
You are ignoring March’s NPD results.
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again you can't judge this game after 2 months...it's going to take 8+ months...same with Destiny 1 & 2, Warframe, The Division 1 etc...Anthem is not a failure by any stretch...yes there are issues that need to be addressed but overall it's doing fine as far as players and sales...the NPD numbers don't even include the EA Access or Origin sales...and the fact that Anthem sold as well as it did despite the average reviews and technical issues of the betas etc makes it even more impressive
 
polonyc2 said:
again you can't judge this game after 2 months...it's going to take 8+ months...same with Destiny 1 & 2, Warframe, The Division 1 etc...Anthem is not a failure by any stretch...yes there are issues that need to be addressed but overall it's doing fine as far as players and sales...the NPD numbers don't even include the EA Access or Origin sales...and the fact that Anthem sold as well as it did despite the average reviews and technical issues of the betas etc makes it even more impressive
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You cannot claim the NPD data shows the game is selling while one moment and then dismiss it the next when it doesn’t fit your narrative. The Feb data shows that it sold somewhere under 650k in the US (due to the statement about Mass Effect 3’s sales) in its release month. We don’t know how far under but it still isn’t a bad result, but following Feb things don’t look great sales wise.
 
polonyc2 said:
there's nothing dubious about it since the info is not coming from EA or BioWare but from the NPD...Anthem is selling well...it doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever, it just means that a lot of people bought the game...which is not surprising after all the marketing and hype, plus it's a AAA game from a AAA developer/publisher...again sales don't necessarily translate to quality but it's still an impressive feat...the pace NPD is listing here means that Anthem is outperforming Mass Effect 1-2, Andromeda and Dragon Age 1-3...that isn’t nothing, and it’s doing so with far worse reviews than any of those games had, and the early demos for the game were racked with technical issues so it wasn’t exactly wowing anyone in that regard during early previews

so all things considered Anthem is a hit...I've said from the beginning that it's going to take ~12 months before the final verdict can be written as far as the game...whether they are selling for half price or full price doesn't matter...The Division 1 dropped fast but got a second life because of all the sales so in a way it can only help Anthem...the overall mechanics are sound, it just needs refinement and more content...I can see the game rebounding and thriving in a few months if EA/BioWare continue to fix things
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You are delusional dude, the NPD info has no unit sales or revenue figures. By your logic EA could reduce the price to $1, turn Anthem into the best selling title in video game history by unit sales and that would some how prove it is performing well. It doesn't prove anything without revenue figures, because like I said the game has been in the bargain bin since release.

EA forecast 5 to 6 million sales in the first quarter of release, given its been selling at 50% off they would need to double sales to meet that revenue target, which seems pretty unlikely for two reasons. Firstly, the game got utterly smashed on metacritic. Secondly, it doesn't even rate in the top 40 played games on either Xbone or PS4.

I get that you have bought into the live service rhetoric and think that Bioware can stage a come back. However the games that you are comparing Anthem to were not fundamentally broken at release and were not built on an ill designed engine that is seemingly strapped together with string and gaffer tape. I sincerely doubt EA is going to be prepared to sink money into this game indefinitely to get it into an acceptable unbroken state considering how much they have already wasted on development and marketing, and the fact that Apex has already proven to be their live service cash cow.
 
Blade-Runner said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...-to-create-matchmaking-problems/#299801717409

I'm shock...SHOCKED....that the player base is dying. Oh wait, no I'm not.
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lack of content plus BioWare admitting that they have major issues to fix...no surprise that people are taking some time off and will return to the game if/when the issues are fixed...the end of the article says the same thing...Division 1 suffered a major drop and after the endgame etc were patched and the price dropped tons of old and new players came back...I haven't played Anthem since Sekiro came out but will be back soon enough
 
polonyc2 said:
lack of content plus BioWare admitting that they have major issues to fix...no surprise that people are taking some time off and will return to the game if/when the issues are fixed...the end of the article says the same thing...Division 1 suffered a major drop and after the endgame etc were patched and the price dropped tons of old and new players came back...I haven't played Anthem since Sekiro came out but will be back soon enough
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As I said in my previous post, Division 1 wasn't borked from beginning to end. You are pinning all your hopes on a magical patch which has been postponed indefinitely with no ETA. All you can point to are a handful of examples where the publishers successfully turned things around. In this industry that is the exception rather than the rule, and there are far more instances of broken games going unfixed with support being discontinued.
 
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Blade-Runner said:
As I said in my previous post, Division 1 wasn't borked from beginning to end. You are pinning all your hopes on a magical patch which has been postponed indefinitely with no ETA.
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it doesn't need to get 10 million players...Battlefront 2 started out in worse shape and is still going strong today...there's enough of a player base for Anthem to keep it going for at least as long as Battlefront 2
 
polonyc2 said:
lack of content plus BioWare admitting that they have major issues to fix...no surprise that people are taking some time off and will return to the game if/when the issues are fixed...the end of the article says the same thing...Division 1 suffered a major drop and after the endgame etc were patched and the price dropped tons of old and new players came back...I haven't played Anthem since Sekiro came out but will be back soon enough
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Destiny 1 as well. Anthem is in worse shape than either game but it’s not impossible to fix, as long as BioWare has the manpower and money to do so. I don’t know if they could ever get the game up to where they originally promised it would be as that would likely take reworking almost every single system in it but they can make it a game that is both fun and rewarding to play.
 
polonyc2 said:
it doesn't need to get 10 million players...Battlefront 2 started out in worse shape and is still going strong today...there's enough of a player base for Anthem to keep it going for at least as long as Battlefront 2
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Going strong according to what metrics? From battlefrontstats.com, only 1768 have logged in during the last 6 hours, and only 8243 over the preceding 24 hour period. That's not even concurrent population numbers. And as far as I am aware, new content for BF2 has slowed to an interminable drip. EA may be prepared to incur the cost of ongoing server support, but I don't see it making a massive investment in new content for Anthem if there isn't a half decent player base to capitalise on.
 
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Derangel said:
Welp, we can stop guessing now. EA confirmed that Anthem meet neither sales nor recurrent spending expectations. However, the good news is that EA also said they are committed to continuing to work on it.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/a...ut-company-/1100-6466719/?ftag=GSS-05-10aaa0b

In other news EA said that Anthem is causing them to rethink how they do game releases.

https://www.pcgamer.com/electronic-..._source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer-pcgamertw
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I was beta testing (and paying at the same time) SWTOR same company several years earlier. Same problems launch about 6 months to early. People who refuse to learn from their mistakes are bound to repeat them.
The mantra of EA is make money not care about developers nor care for gamers. Their mantra is what is leading acknowledging problems after they happened is what every one can do now find people in EA that can do something about problems before they start rising.

Wilson said that in Asia, major online games generally go through a soft launch and multiple community tests before everything goes live, which enables EA to get a better idea of how they'll behave at scale. In the West, however, major publishers have stuck with older conventions: A "drip-feed approach" to marketing to "build up the appetite and excitement for the game," that leads straight into release.
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And the only soft launch that is acceptable are executives from the company that screws their paying customers (gamers).
 
Derangel said:
Welp, we can stop guessing now. EA confirmed that Anthem meet neither sales nor recurrent spending expectations. However, the good news is that EA also said they are committed to continuing to work on it.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/a...ut-company-/1100-6466719/?ftag=GSS-05-10aaa0b

In other news EA said that Anthem is causing them to rethink how they do game releases.

https://www.pcgamer.com/electronic-..._source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer-pcgamertw
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She dead Jim. Time to move on. People need to stop giving EA their money. This ain't the first time they fucked up bad and won't be the last. They don't deserve any good will from gamers. They proved they only care about our wallets.
 
Derangel said:
In other news EA said that Anthem is causing them to rethink how they do game releases.

https://www.pcgamer.com/electronic-..._source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer-pcgamertw
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Comments lifted from that article:

Thanatos • 8 hours ago

The old way of releasing games is actually

1. Complete game.
2. Release game.
3. Get money from sales of game that people want to play because it's a good game.
4, Use profits from game to make next game.

EA's "old way" of releasing games is

1. Rush out incomplete product stuffed with microtransactions
2. Claim you will fix it eventually.
3. Declare game sold below expectations because of marketing controversies and not because it was a rushed incomplete game that prioritized profit over user enjoyment.
4. Profit anyways, but not as much as the shareholder guidance, so close the studio who made it.
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LTenhet Thanatos • 5 hours ago

You missed 3(a): Close down studio forced to make a game outside their niche
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Pieter3dnow said:
The mantra of EA is make money not care about developers nor care for gamers.
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vegeta535 said:
People need to stop giving EA their money. This ain't the first time they fucked up bad and won't be the last.
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Not disagreeing, but this time the shitshow wasn't EA's fault, the blame almost completely rests on BioWare's shoulders. Jason Schreier's now infamous article, (link) pretty much confirms that while EA has been shoving the Frostbite engine down their studios throats - it was the mismanagement, incompetence and culture inside Bioware that was the root cause of this game's failure. In fact, it actually seems EA was too "hands-off" on the project, letting Bioware fuck around for years due to their reputation and previous games success.
 
Drexion said:
Not disagreeing, but this time the shitshow wasn't EA's fault, the blame almost completely rests on BioWare's shoulders. Jason Schreier's now infamous article, (link) pretty much confirms that while EA has been shoving the Frostbite engine down their studios throats - it was the mismanagement, incompetence and culture inside Bioware that was the root cause of this game's failure. In fact, it actually seems EA was too "hands-off" on the project, letting Bioware fuck around for years due to their reputation and previous games success.
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Well the way it went with SWTOR that developers heard just before Christmas that they were launching in February. The way game development works is that you know 6 months in advance if you are going to make the launch date or not.

The way developers are forced to make these dates is when they suddenly hear they blew the budget and they have to launch because that will generate money needed....

I also have some reservations regarding that article from Kotaku. Dragon Age was also using Frostbite engine before. Several years before now suddenly people are baffled by using Frostbite, I find this a little weird. To begin with what is wrong with Anthem is not that it is using Frostbite engine it is surrounding gameplay mechanics and loot.

And that is a whole different department from game engine related problems. However if they want to blame Frostbite engine for the delay then I suggest it is a cop out.
 
Drexion said:
Not disagreeing, but this time the shitshow wasn't EA's fault, the blame almost completely rests on BioWare's shoulders. Jason Schreier's now infamous article, (link) pretty much confirms that while EA has been shoving the Frostbite engine down their studios throats - it was the mismanagement, incompetence and culture inside Bioware that was the root cause of this game's failure. In fact, it actually seems EA was too "hands-off" on the project, letting Bioware fuck around for years due to their reputation and previous games success.
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Of course it's EA's fault, Bioware is a wholly owned subsidiary, for all intents and purposes they are one and the same. And I don't believe for one instant that senior individuals at EA didn't know Anthem was a clusterfuck before green lighting its release or that the E3 reveal trailer was total and utter bullshit.
 
Pieter3dnow said:
I also have some reservations regarding that article from Kotaku. Dragon Age was also using Frostbite engine before. Several years before now suddenly people are baffled by using Frostbite, I find this a little weird. To begin with what is wrong with Anthem is not that it is using Frostbite engine it is surrounding gameplay mechanics and loot.
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As an engine, it was used well in say Mass Effect: Andromeda. Visuals and gameplay mechanics were solid, especially for a game that is both open-ish world and cover shooter and uses jump jets and climbing. Anthem reportedly is both better looking and more fluid in terms of control.
 
Drexion said:
Not disagreeing, but this time the shitshow wasn't EA's fault, the blame almost completely rests on BioWare's shoulders. Jason Schreier's now infamous article, (link) pretty much confirms that while EA has been shoving the Frostbite engine down their studios throats - it was the mismanagement, incompetence and culture inside Bioware that was the root cause of this game's failure. In fact, it actually seems EA was too "hands-off" on the project, letting Bioware fuck around for years due to their reputation and previous games success.
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EA is still at fault as well. They knew the game wasn't ready for launch, they knew the troubles Bioware was having, they knew Frostbite was crap for anything outside of DICE. EA should have delayed the game and given Bioware the support it needed. EA shouldn't have pulled most of the people Bioware had with experience working on Frostbite. Bioware fucking up, royally, but that doesn't remotely leave EA blameless.
 
The saddest part is that I think Anthem had potential. While playing the alpha there were actually bits and pieces that would've made a grand narrative based single player game. But they just had to try and train hop on the multiplayer gravy train. But they fell between the two trains going the opposite direction and at this point both the single player and the coop train are just dots in the distance.
 
The matchmaking is a little weird at times I once got the message that there not enough servers ...
 
TangledThornz said:
Yeah, its becoming a dead game. I know I'm in the minority but PvP would save this game.
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Nope. PvP just doesn't work in hybrid arpgs or looter shooters. The worst parts of Destiny 2, Path of Exile, Diablo 3, The Division etc is the PvP, actively derided and avoided by the vast majority of their playerbases. In fact the devs of those games get accused of 'wasting resources' developing "a part of the game most of the playerbase hates". Bioware couldn't even get the PvE portion of their game right you think they could balance a PvP mode? Hell no.

I just googled "Warframe PvP" since I'm unfamiliar with that game, and these were the top comments on the very first result:
"Why does it need PvP to begin with? Waste of time, resources and brain cells if you ask me."
"Because only like 0.1% of the playerbase actually plays it!"

Not surprised, arpgs and PvP don't ever mesh well, unless it's a completely separate mode which have nothing to do with the player's already established characters, in which case it might as well just be a whole new game.
 
BioWare finally unveils Anthem's much-touted eight-week Cataclysm event

Although Cataclysm is intended to be playable by anyone at any level, it's primarily designed for groups of four players, with a particular emphasis on replay...to that end, it features one core objective - to defeat the faction leader Vara - but encourages repeat visits, exploration, and experimentation through a new score multiplier and leaderboard system, enabling players to compete against friends, guild mates, and the world

Cataclysm will bring a range of improvements to the core game...these include the likes of balance changes and buffs to enemies, and, more significantly, the removal of Anthem's Luck stat...once implemented, all players will have the equivalent of 100% luck as a base stat, meaning that general loot will drop much more frequently...

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nthems-much-touted-eight-week-cataclysm-event
 
polonyc2 said:
BioWare finally unveils Anthem's much-touted eight-week Cataclysm event

Although Cataclysm is intended to be playable by anyone at any level, it's primarily designed for groups of four players, with a particular emphasis on replay...to that end, it features one core objective - to defeat the faction leader Vara - but encourages repeat visits, exploration, and experimentation through a new score multiplier and leaderboard system, enabling players to compete against friends, guild mates, and the world

Cataclysm will bring a range of improvements to the core game...these include the likes of balance changes and buffs to enemies, and, more significantly, the removal of Anthem's Luck stat...once implemented, all players will have the equivalent of 100% luck as a base stat, meaning that general loot will drop much more frequently...

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nthems-much-touted-eight-week-cataclysm-event
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Get your supplies, hurricane season is coming. And don't forget the popcorn! Hoping for the best, but I'm sure they'll fuck it up just like everything else so far.
 
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