After a few months being worked on by a 30-man team, the news broke that EA would be deciding whether or not to cancel or continue Anthem 2.0 that week. This decision would follow a review of the latest build of the game, although it should be noted that it's been quite a while since there's been a real update on what Anthem 2.0 plans. When the relaunch of the game was first announced, there were some who were relieved the game wasn't being left in the dust. There are things to like about a game that allows players to fly around in giant mech suits, and it's not hard to see the appeal.
Unfortunately, there was plenty about the game that didn't hit the mark, but some saw something in the Anthem that was shown at E3 2017 that got them excited. This has led to a lot of hope that Anthem 2.0 could realize that vision. At the moment, though, EA has likely made the decision, but no answer has been made public.
The Future of Anthem Could Be Salvaged...
With this review reportedly already happened, EA has not publicly revealed the fate of Anthem 2.0. Nothing suggested the company would make an announcement on that soon, but it seems safe to assume that good news would have gone public by now.
One line of thinking is that the lack of comment on Anthem means the game is cancelled. With the report claiming execs were going to finally make a decision last week, it's not hard to think the decision has indeed been made. Continued development seems like it would be a simple thing to announced, yet it could be that EA is considering how to approach the subject on top of everything else. It could still be good news; it could just be that it's further out than intended and the devs need some silence. That silence, however, is concerning.
...But The Silence Around Anthem is Concerning
With some in the gaming world finding the development on Anthem 2.0 concerning, it makes sense EA isn't keen on announcing that development is now over. The game is still on offer on EA Play, that subscriber base was recently increased in a deal with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and the company would probably not like to lose whatever players it gained from that. Anthem still has players, there may not be many, but if there's no future in the game, there's no reason to continue playing.
Keeping the player base intact is just one of the reasons EA may not cancel Anthem. On the other hand, the longer the company waits, the harder it is to see a positive outcome for those hoping for a relaunch. The silence from both Electronic Arts and BioWare has left Anthem hanging to the point where even devoted players might have decided not to come back, depending on how it proceeds.
The Future of Anthem 2.0
Ultimately, the gaming public doesn't even know what silence means about Anthem's development. There's every reason to hope that it's good, but EA is a company. This means that it has its bottomline to consider, and continuing to invest in Anthem is a big deal. For fans, it's hard to know what exactly has been thought up, as there has only been minute details revealed.
If Electronic Arts wants to have any success with a new version of Anthem, it's going to need plenty of excitement from the community. Anthem 2.0 launching with everyone having moved on seems like the exact opposite way to fix the game, and that's why the company should be transparent with this and future decisions. It's not like Electronic Arts and BioWare are out there completely unaware that, with each passing day, the support from the community has a chance of dropping off. Salvaged work and wasted work are not the same concept, and while many believe Anthem could be salvaged, there's reason to err to the side of cutting losses.
The big question now is whether the lack of news about Anthem 2.0 has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For some, it may be too little, too late; for others, there's still something to be said at the core of Anthem. The community will eventually find out, but it would be nice to know the final decision.
Anthem is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.