BIOWARE
It’s been a difficult year for BioWare. With a failed return to the Mass Effect series, there’s a lot of stress and anticipation weighing on the shoulders of the development team as Anthem looms large. It’s no wonder the studio has largely gone quiet for the rest of 2017 since E3’s announcement, no doubt in an attempt to knuckle down and ensure their next big release hits all the right notes compared to BioWare Montreal’s disappointing results with Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Whether or not Anthem will even hit store shelves next year is still not clear, though it’s very possible that it might be delayed to avoid another difficult launch period. Whatever does happen, you would expect both BioWare and EA to turn things around in a big way after a horrid run and plenty of fan backlash. Anthem could be the bandage to heal their many wounds, as long as they head the feedback and tone down the microtransaction problems that plagued Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Need for Speed Payback.
This is BioWare’s baby. They need to ensure that creative control doesn’t slip through their fingers. 2018 will be an important year, not just for their biggest new IP in years but for the company as a whole.
