At first, getting into the Anthem VIP Demo was a bit of a battle in itself. — AFP Relaxnews
Sci-fi action game Anthem has emerged from its first public beta weekend, a VIP Demo for players who pre-ordered the late February game, and has sights set on better performance for a bigger open access test running Feb 1-3.
Before the next Mass Effect or Dragon Age role-playing adventure, Electronic Arts' BioWare has a potential new franchise due Feb 22.
Like Mass Effect, it's sunk deep into a science-fiction setting but, while characters appear impressive with lifelike chatter and concern, Anthem trades more heavily on action.
Players choose a suit of high-tech armour, a Javelin, and navigate the varied environments of a partially colonised, dangerous alien world, fighting against enemy factions and searching for scarce resources to ensure the future of humanity.
Putting the disappointment of Mass Effect: Andromeda aside requires a strong launch for Anthem, especially given competition from fellow sci-fi venture Destiny 2: Forsaken and, perhaps more urgently, Ubisoft's action game sequel The Division 2, due mid-March.
Hence the resolution to rapidly reinforce network performance, dealing with the access and loading screen issues that hampered play over the VIP Demo weekend.
"Real-world play frequently leads to unexpected issues," he noted – hence one of the reasons for running a pre-release beta test like this – while clarifying that despite connectivity troubles, "overall, we had excess capacity prepared ... and continue to do so."
Instead, intense demand combined with several technical bugs to make it difficult for players to get into the demo or access specific pre-order bonuses.
Publisher Electronic Arts posted updates to an issue page on answers.ea.com, while Anthem social media offered VIP players all four Javelins for the next demo, an open access opportunity running Feb 1 to Feb 3.
And it's the speed, sturdiness, and frequency of studio response that could prove crucial to Anthem's chances; recent years have seen several other launches show steady and continual improvement.
Those range from team-based match-up Rainbow Six Siege to online pirate crew adventure Sea Of Thieves and, perhaps most significantly for Anthem given their sci-fi settings, 2013's once ridiculed, now ridiculously epic-scale free Warframe, and a Destiny 2 greatly improved by September 2018's paid expansion, Forsaken. – AFP Relaxnews
