On April 16th, Casey Hudson of BioWare, wrote a comprehensive blog-post, addressing the heavy atmosphere surrounding the upcoming Anthem.
Ok, first things first, who, apart from an undercover reptoid, addresses their audience as “humans”? Anyway, “When I returned to BioWare last summer”- he writes- “Mass Effect: Andromeda had just been released and there was a significant movement among players asking for a story DLC that would answer questions surrounding the fate of the quarians. As you know, we were not able to deliver story DLC for Andromeda—this was as frustrating for us as it was for players, and it was something we knew we had to solve in future games.”
Now don’t get me wrong, this response was sorely needed, given the current, troublesome climate surrounding the situation at BioWare. Following the sudden return of Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer of Mass Efect 1 and 2 and his equally sudden departure last month, many are wondering if everything’s ok in the “Great White North”. Though to be sure, the departure of Karpyshyn is not really strange- when the game’s script has already been written, there’s little to do for the writers and they can be let go to do other things.
But undoubtedly the fans of the studio are… Worried. Some are voicing concern whether EA isn’t planning to shut down the studio, like they did with Visceral not long ago, if Anthem… Under-performs. And I’ll let you decide whether this blog-post actually had a calming effect on you, to me, it sounds a bit like Hudson is trying to eschew the blame for Mass Effect: Andromeda not fulfilling the fans’ expectations.
Though, credit where it’s due, this part:
we must stay focused on the importance of the world, character, and storytelling elements that players expect from our games. And our games must be designed to continue delivering new stories and experiences, in an ongoing relationship with players in the worlds we’re evolving together.
Is genuinely uplifting. Hopefully they know what they’re doing.