It appears one of 2018’s most anticipated games won’t actually arrive in 2018. Kotaku — which cites a trio of sources close to the project — reports BioWare’s Anthem will be delayed to early 2019.
Revealed at E3 2017, Anthem looks to be EA‘s answer to Destiny. The open-world science-fiction title hinges on its online co-op, featuring groups of “freelancers” wearing high-tech Javelin suits jetting around misty forestry to hunt large beasts. At the end of the visually stunning reveal trailer, a launch window of fall 2018 was revealed. While purportedly leaking the delay, those close to Anthem suggested the announced launch window was never really in the cards.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Scant details about the game have been revealed so far, and Anthem‘s promise of a Destiny-esque third-person experience is nothing short of ambitious. We even picked it as one of eight 2018 games most likely to experience a delay.
BioWare, a revered developer in the industry, also finds itself in uncharted waters with Anthem. The studio garnered its notoriety and reputation from a string of mostly top-notch single-player experiences, namely the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. While Anthem shares some of the science fiction and fantasy elements of those franchises, Anthem seems to be more action-oriented. The main difference, though, lies in its emphasis on its cooperative experience.
Anthem now appears to be on track to launch no later than March 2019. To reach that target, most of BioWare’s staff has been put on Anthem‘s development. Meanwhile, a small number of BioWare staffers have started work on the next Dragon Age, while others continue to develop updates for the PC MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Development on Anthem began in 2012 and as the game nears release, BioWare staffers have expressed both excitement and worry about the project. The studio’s last major release, Mass Effect: Andromeda, fell far short of the mark set by previous entries in the beloved series. Anthem‘s lofty premise and the franchise it seeks to rival add to the stakes.
Anthem‘s delay hasn’t been confirmed by EA but it sure seems like the Destiny rival won’t arrive until 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
