When Mass Effect: Andromeda was released in March 2017, its sales figures disappointed and it received mixed reviews. The reception to the game led to significant changes at BioWare, including the Mass Effect series being put on hiatus and Andromeda developer BioWare Montreal being turned into a "support" studio for other projects. Moreover, Mass Effect: Andromeda did not receive any story-focused DLC as many fans had hoped for.

According to a new blog post penned by returning BioWare veteran Casey Hudson, the developer has learned a lot from Mass Effect's failures. Hudson explains that the response to Mass Effect: Andromeda led to a "defining moment in refocusing BioWare's mission," as the studio acknowledges that it needs to "delight players with new experiences and innovation" and "stay focused on the importance of the world, character, and storytelling elements that players expect from our games."

The BioWare executive says that the studio will design its games to "continue delivering new stories and experiences" and says that this vision will shine through in Anthem, its upcoming sci-fi RPG. The game is "designed to create a whole new world of story and character that you can experience with friends in an ongoing series of adventures," and will be "unlike anything you've played," but Anthem will also feel "distinctly BioWare."

Anthem Delay into 2019 Confirmed

That's a tall ask for any game, especially one that's coming after a game with significant controversy like Mass Effect: Andromeda. The Anthem team is also aiming to avoid the mistakes made with Star Wars Battlefront 2. This shifting vision and the attempts at learning from other failed games perhaps explains why BioWare and publisher EA made the decision to delay Anthem to next year. This additional time in the game development oven may well help Anthem to be a good example of BioWare's next approach.

BioWare fans who are looking forward to Anthem and trust that the developer can get things back on track will be glad to hear Hudson's comments. The executive also vows to write additional blog posts that touch upon the new mission even more and how that will impact Anthem and future BioWare games.

However, Hudson's comments don't address all of the concerns that fans had with Mass Effect: Andromeda. Andromeda's poor narrative quality, the lack of DLC, and a world that didn't feel as interesting to play in were some of the biggest criticisms, but the game's facial animations was also pinpointed. According to at least one former developer on the game, these issues stemmed from a rocky development and hostile work atmosphere, though the blog post doesn't say that Hudson and BioWare will address these other issues. This may leave some unable to be fully confident in Anthem's development until the game is released next year.

Anthem is currently scheduled to release in 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: BioWare