10 Times Publishers Screwed Over A Video Game
1. Anthem
Anthem doesn’t really feel like a BioWare game. However, it feels exactly like an EA game, which is why it tops the list.
We know BioWare is working on Dragon Age 4, and hopefully that will be made in their vision without too much studio meddling. However, with Anthem, we’ll probably never know what went wrong. After the Mass Effect trilogy, there didn’t seem to be a clear direction, thus Anthem was born.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was rushed out by an inexperienced team, but BioWare’s biggest hitters didn’t seem to be working cohesively either.
Casey Hudson left then returned, while long term creative director and game designer Mike Laidlaw and James Ohlen left during Anthem’s development, taking a combined 36 years of BioWare experience with them.
Reports of depression and anxiety amongst the developers due to EAs working environment surfaced in April, along with an insight into why.
EAs policy of ‘where’s your Ultimate Team’ (ie long term microtransactions baked in), as well as their insistence that the Frostbite engine be used killed Anthem before it could even be born. Frostbite was a poor pick for a game of Anthem’s scope and pace, but EA’s policy of studio uniformity meant their hands were tied.