BioWare Originally Thought About Launching Anthem as Free-To-Play
With the Anthem demo in full swing right now and the full game just around the corner, many are more hyped about the game than ever before. In a recent interview with EDGE Magazine, BioWare shared some very curious information about what Anthem could have become.
With the crazy success of free-to-play games like Fortnite, there’s no doubt that many developers have thought about adopting the model. As BioWare just divulged in a recent interview with EDGE Magazine, this is an idea that they tossed around when they were thinking about what to do with Anthem at the beginning. Game director Jonathan Warner stated, “We discussed a free-to-play model early on. It just wasn’t a direction that the company was moving in – BioWare or EA.”
Further to this Lead Producer of Anthem, Ben Irving, explained why they stayed away from the original idea moving forward in a bit more detail. “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.”
Of course with the whole Star Wars Battlefront II fiasco, this was probably a smart move and while there are people who are still worried about the microtransactions within Anthem. BioWare has made it clear that while there are microtransactions, they are completely cosmetic and the very same gear can still be earned or crafted in-game.
Anthem is set to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC in just a few short weeks, on February 22nd. What do you think about what Anthem almost was? Have you jumped into the free demo this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.