The future of Anthem is seeming less and less likely to succeed after the departure of Ben Irving of BioWare Austin, the studio leading development behind the game, and now, it leaves just Chad Robertson looking it over.
Questions have begun to intensify surrounding the current state of Anthem, which has only just now seen its Cataclysm event get underway, providing players with 8 weeks of content to enjoy; setting up another event that will follow.
The future almost seemed likely for the game as BioWare Edmonton moved on to focus on the development of an upcoming Dragon Age title. After today, Ben Irving, Lead Producer on Anthem, has confirmed he is no longer with the studio and has taken up a job with another, but undisclosed team, which gives us an idea about some of the struggles Anthem could very well be facing as of late.
On Twitter today, Irving announced that he would be leaving Bioware for another gaming company, though he did not say which one. In the series of Tweets, Irving reveals why his decision was made, stating that, “After 8 amazing years at BioWare I have made the decision to move on and have accepted an exciting opportunity at another gaming company. Since the first time I played Baldurs Gate many many years ago, BioWare was the dream place I always wanted to work.
I will forever be grateful to all the people who gave me the chance to work on great products with amazing people. I believe Anthem has a bright future – there is a great team working on it and I look forward to following its progress (and playing it!) from the sidelines.
I have really enjoyed interacting with the Anthem community – Streams, Twitter and Reddit. Through the good times and the tough times. You all are in great hands with
@Darokaz and @UNTDrew (and have been for some time now). I wish nothing but the best for all of you. Ben.”
His two tweets refer to both Jesse Anderson, EA’s Global Lead, and Anthem Community Lead, Andrew Johnson. At this time, it seems Anthem could be between a rock and a hard place with no specifics about role changes or if there will be any in regards to the continued development on Anthem after EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson revealed in an interview with GamesDaily that they are invested and would like to see Anthem gain some traction and will remain committed to the game.
While the future does seem grim for Anthem in its current state, the game could gain traction, and it could even join the ranks of Star Wars Battlefront II, which has only made a comeback in recent days and garnered a rather astonishing player base in recent days. For now, however, fans will have to wait and see if Anthem can go the distance or if EA will be cutting off life support in the upcoming months.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.