It’s fair to say that EA didn’t have the best of years in 2017. The disastrous PR stretch that was Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s release and the lesser known Need for Speed loot box stories, together with a widely panned Mass Effect: Andromeda conjured up something of a nightmare year for the company. Something they were crying about all the way to the bank with their piles and piles of cash.
But things were looking up for the company moving into 2018. A solid free-DLC plan for Battlefront 2 and the high expectations of Anthem, EA’s version of Destiny and the supposed project that took funds and focus away from Mass Effect: Andromeda, created an aura of positivity heading into the new year.
However things are once again taking a turn for the company once given the prestige of being the “worst company in America”. A report by Kotaku has revealed a possible delay to Anthem’s launch, pushing the title back into 2019, stating that EA are “doubling down” on the production of Anthem, and that the title is now “inextricably tied” to the future of the company.
This is more than likely a good thing for the game itself, as taking more time on something of this magnitude is always a good idea when compared to the prospect of rushing out an unfinished title. It’s also possible that the backlash over loot boxes in Need for Speed and Battlefront 2 can in some way be tied to the delay, as there is no doubt that EA will want no part in an equally bad PR campaign this time around.
In more positive news, the article on Kotaku also mentions that there are still smaller teams working within EA on a couple of future releases, one of which being a new Dragon Age game. This was later confirmed by Mark Darrah on Twitter, stating that there are people “hard at work on both [Dragon Age and Anthem]”.
Since then, Casey Hudson, GM at BioWare, has confirmed that the studio are working on a new Dragon Age game which is “story and character focused”. Here’s hoping that Anthem isn’t stealing too many funds from this project, the way it did with MEA, and that the next installment in the Dragon Age franchise is one that lives up the lofty heights of Dragon Age: Inquisition.
WeAreNiche 