BioWare has announced that all of its post-release story content for Anthem will be free for all players. The developer revealed the detail as part of its PAX West panel, which included additional details about the game’s story as well as the launch of a new trailer.
While BioWare did not explain what Anthem’s post-launch story content might look like (new missions?), the emphasis on story content suggests that their will also be some paid DLC for the game. But rather than separate the player base between those that paid for more content and those that did not, BioWare decided to make it all free. Our first hint that BioWare might head in this direction was when the studio announced it would not offer a Season Pass. Historically, ditching a season pass but still planning DLC suggests that the developer wants to offer story-based content for free but charge extra for cosmetics.
It seems BioWare is yet another of the Electronic Arts studios that is pitching the idea of free DLC under the umbrella of uniting the players. Battlefield has attempted this in the past and Star Wars Battlefront 2 announced a similar initiative as well. However, both of those games also had microtransactions for players to sink money into, just like Anthem will.
With franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, BioWare has delivered some truly memorable DLC missions, so the hope is that the trend will continue with Anthem. But since Anthem will take a different approach to story through its Our World, My Story idea, things may differ significantly. In fact, we haven’t seen much of Anthem’s story at all, only heard small details about the world, the enemies, and seen a few missions.
Hopefully, that will change between now and February, when Anthem is set to launch up against some stiff competition. The spring months used to be pretty bare, but now it has become a major game release season. If Anthem’s DLC wants to make its case for players to return, the game will need to impress at launch. Perhaps the pre-release demo will also help convince gamers that the online title is worth picking up.
Anthem releases February 22, 2018 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.