ANTHEM Was Initially Considered Being A Free-To-Play Title
Developer BioWare's upcoming online multiplayer action game, Anthem, was initially considered being a free-to-play title. Here are the details behind the original game plan for the project.
Anthem has been years in the making by the people over at BioWare. It is obvious games go through several stages in their development, maybe even consider the free-to-play model. According to BioWare's Jonathan Warner, Anthem was indeed close to being a free-to-play title full with microtransactions.
The game will indeed be offering microtransactions but those will be ketp under the cosmetic side of things. These purchases are optional and will not affect gameplay for anyone, they will also be earnable in the game itself, players do not have to buy anything.
In an interview with Gaming Bolt, Warner spoke about the free-to-play model Anthem once though about adapting. “We discussed a free-to-play model early on. It just wasn’t a direction that the company was moving in – BioWare or EA.”
Lead producer Ben Irving also chimed in and spoke about the early stages of the game's development. “If you go free-to-play, you still have to have a profitable business or we can’t continue to do an amazing live service for all our players. So what would you really be trading if you gave the game away for free? There’s all that money you’d have to make to be profitable. And so then you get into the territory of being less player-generous. I think in the triple-A space, people are more comfortable paying the entry fee and then having a great player-generous model with no paid DLC, and optional vanity items that you can earn in-game currency to buy anyway.”
There you have it, Anthem fans. In order to keep the budget controllable and have a better design, the game was made into a AAA title and the free-to-play version was not implemented. Anthem will be offering free expansions featuring different creatures and settings. This post-launch content will not be charing players at all, just like The Division 2. Anthem's open demo is available right now.
Through the power of the javelins, skilled pilots called lancers were able to fight back against this perilous world. But a new enemy has emerged, seeking to harness the limitless power of the Anthem. And if they succeed, nothing will stand in their way.
Anthem hits the PS4, Xbox One and PC on February 22