Anthem: Bioware's next Mass Effect-like IP

[RobertoCarlos]

People were complaining the pc flight controls were bad so they fixed them. The vip demo is of a build before that so they clarified it. Is that bad now?

just pointing out the typical behavior of making promises they might not be able to keep with a quickly approaching release date.

But dont forget to pre-order it will all be fine with a day one 50gb patch

[Edge-]

just pointing out the typical behavior of making promises they might not be able to keep with a quickly approaching release date.

But dont forget to pre-order it will all be fine with a day one 50gb patch

Sorry they didn't use your preferred wording? I mean, they said they're improving them. What more do you want? They want to sell copies, and better PC controls are a good way to do that on PC.

The endless salt towards even positive things that any game under the EA banner gets is exhausting.

[yasiru]

just pointing out the typical behavior of making promises they might not be able to keep with a quickly approaching release date.

But dont forget to pre-order it will all be fine with a day one 50gb patch

They already improved the PC flight controls and Irving was playing with M+KB in the latest dev. stream where they did the contract.

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Yeah, there has to be something other than cosmetic items for $$. There is no way EA would publish a game that does not have continual revenue generation, they literally cannot afford to do that.

They literally cannot afford to do that? Please explain...

I wouldn't be surprised if there is eventually a big paid expansion or something, where they add new map areas, etc but there's been zero news about anything like that. As long as there isn't the random lootbox crap if they want to add some cosmetic or similar MTs I am ok with that.

[Lahis]

They literally cannot afford to do that? Please explain...

I wouldn't be surprised if there is eventually a big paid expansion or something, where they add new map areas, etc but there's been zero news about anything like that. As long as there isn't the random lootbox crap if they want to add some cosmetic or similar MTs I am ok with that.

Purely optional cosmetic stuff with fair business model would barely cover the development and upkeep costs of Anthem if they release all content for free. On top of that, EA's investors demand all the money that is humanly possible, so they need to ear, much, MUCH more than just the upkeep costs.

So yeah. EA can't literally afford to keep the game cheap and fair.

[apelsinjuice]

They have said it time and time again. There are only MTx for cosmetics, period, and you know what you are buying when you buy it. You can also preview what the cosmetic looks like on your javelin before you purchase it. No lootboxes in Anthem.

That what they said about Starwars battlefront 2 as well, "no p2w we promise", only a matter of time before big daddy EA steps in and demand they add lootboxes and p2w

Purely optional cosmetic stuff with fair business model would barely cover the development and upkeep costs of Anthem if they release all content for free. On top of that, EA's investors demand all the money that is humanly possible, so they need to ear, much, MUCH more than just the upkeep costs.

So yeah. EA can't literally afford to keep the game cheap and fair.

They can do that easily, if they stopped giving their CEOs like patrik söderlund 50 million dollar bonuses thats probably more than the dev cost for the game alone.

[Beazy]

They literally cannot afford to do that? Please explain...

I wouldn't be surprised if there is eventually a big paid expansion or something, where they add new map areas, etc but there's been zero news about anything like that. As long as there isn't the random lootbox crap if they want to add some cosmetic or similar MTs I am ok with that.

They said in their last investor call that they are working on making up the lost IP revenue from various games in FY-2018, said their 2019 focus would be on games with a constant revenue stream. So I'm not sure how Anthem isn't part of that strategy, seeing how this is EAs biggest known game for 2019.


And I pretty much agree, if Anthem is full of visual upgrades for $$ ~ like Path of Exile, we wont have anything to worry about. But EA is EA. We have to tread softly and temper those expectations.

[Lahis]

They can do that easily, if they stopped giving their CEOs like patrik söderlund 50 million dollar bonuses thats probably more than the dev cost for the game alone.

There are two things corporations can't cut costs in: CO bonuses and investor pay-outs.

Everything else they can and will seek to minimize expenses in, but those two are sacred and will never be cut. On the contrary, they'll get bigger every year.

[Onikaroshi]

There are two things corporations can't cut costs in: CO bonuses and investor pay-outs.

Everything else they can and will seek to minimize expenses in, but those two are sacred and will never be cut. On the contrary, they'll get bigger every year.

And thus is why Japanese companies tend to make better games... they don't give all their earnings to the CEO and investors. Japanese CEO's make like 1/6th that of an American CEO. CEO's get WAY too much in America.

[yasiru]

They said in their last investor call that they are working on making up the lost IP revenue from various games in FY-2018, said their 2019 focus would be on games with a constant revenue stream. So I'm not sure how Anthem isn't part of that strategy, seeing how this is EAs biggest known game for 2019.


And I pretty much agree, if Anthem is full of visual upgrades for $$ ~ like Path of Exile, we wont have anything to worry about. But EA is EA. We have to tread softly and temper those expectations.

I see. I think the one thing they really cannot afford to do this time though IS the whole p2w/lootbox system itself. As hard as they were hit due to battlefront they cannot afford to make that mistake again, especially so soon... I think that is why I feel like the devs stating over and over that lootboxes will not be in Anthem feels more earnest to me. I like Bioware too so I am happy to play this game.

[kaelleria]

"PC controls will be more nuanced in live"

they could have just said that the game is still in development like all early release content shown.

Instead they have to EA it and "we promise it will be better live, trust us. Pre-order now *insert link to website*"

Less nuanced means they've broken out more of the various movement and aiming mechanics to new sliders since they branched for the demo 6 1/2 weeks ago.



Instead of the 9 sliders they showed last stream, we'll probably have 6 or something.

[ReD-EyeD]

Is there any info on how big the game is going to be?
Big as in all terms, how big is the map, how long it is to max level, etc

[apelsinjuice]

At least they will have an open public demo, which must count for something because if the game sucks people won't buy it.

[kaelleria]

Is there any info on how big the game is going to be?
Big as in all terms, how big is the map, how long it is to max level, etc

The demo's will be 30gb. It's been confirmed that they cut out a lot to prevent dataminers from getting much from the demo.

I'm going to guess launch day will be 50-60gb at the least.

In terms of map size, it's fairly big. Not the largest open world in existence in terms of sheer land mass, but they make really good use of verticals since you can fly and all.

[Katchii]

Purely optional cosmetic stuff with fair business model would barely cover the development and upkeep costs of Anthem if they release all content for free. On top of that, EA's investors demand all the money that is humanly possible, so they need to ear, much, MUCH more than just the upkeep costs.

So yeah. EA can't literally afford to keep the game cheap and fair.

FYI, Fortnite is one of the most profitable games of all time and IS the most profitable free game of all time and does exactly what you're saying. And it primarily sells cosmetic stuff. So long as EA and BioWare support this game well, in a similar fashion to how Epic Games is supporting Fortnite, and the game play is fun, I'm sure it will be fine.

Not saying Anthem should mimic Fortnite, just saying that "purely cosmetic stuff" seems to be doing OK for Fortnite so far. So it's a viable business model so long as the game is well supported and fun to play.

[ReD-EyeD]

FYI, Fortnite is one of the most profitable games of all time and IS the most profitable free game of all time and does exactly what you're saying. And it primarily sells cosmetic stuff. So long as EA and BioWare support this game well, in a similar fashion to how Epic Games is supporting Fortnite, and the game play is fun, I'm sure it will be fine.

Not saying Anthem should mimic Fortnite, just saying that "purely cosmetic stuff" seems to be doing OK for Fortnite so far. So it's a viable business model so long as the game is well supported and fun to play.

OR they can just sell as much copies as possible for 60 bucks and be with it like every single time before that.

[kaelleria]

OR they can just sell as much copies as possible for 60 bucks and be with it like every single time before that.

If you want constant free updates you generally need an additional revenue stream.

[ReD-EyeD]

If you want constant free updates you generally need an additional revenue stream.

But they thing is that they're doing everything (well except monthly sub) at the same time, cosmetics, content dlcs, expansions, 60euro game.

[Lahis]

OR they can just sell as much copies as possible for 60 bucks and be with it like every single time before that.

That is a finite amount of money. It is nowhere near enough for EA.

[Edge-]

That is a finite amount of money. It is nowhere near enough for EA.

We get it. You think EA is evil and greedy. You've said so at least a dozen times. Are you just to keep repeating yourself? Because let me tell you, it gets pretty old pretty fast.

[Lex Icon]

Is there any info on how big the game is going to be?
Big as in all terms, how big is the map, how long it is to max level, etc

nothing confirmed.. but there's been some glimpses of the size when looking at the map from their live streams and the travels they've made which hints at there at least being some pretty large zones.