The latest Anthem patch notes are chock-full of quality of life changes, but as BioWare explained in a new Reddit post, many major features are getting delayed. Lead producer Ben Irving and live service head Chad Robertson jointly said "we are not going to hit all the goals on our Act 1 Calendar," so several parts of Anthem's content road map are getting pushed back.
"We have been prioritizing things like bug fixes, stability and game flow over the new features of Act 1," the post reads. "We set aside time for this work, but the reality is there are more things to fix and improve than we planned for. While this is the best thing to do for the game, it means some items from the calendar will be delayed."
The following features have been delayed:
- Mastery System
- Guilds
- Legendary Missions - Phase 2
- Weekly Stronghold Challenge
- Leaderboards
- Some Freeplay events
- Cataclysm
These features were originally scheduled to arrive this month and throughout May. However, BioWare didn't clarify exactly how long they will be delayed, nor did it say how these delays will affect Act 2 of the game's calendar. "We want to make sure everything we add to the game has a purpose and fits with our long term goals," Irving and Robertson said. "When we have information to share on the items above, we will do so."
Many players are eager to see the Mastery System expand endgame progression, and Guilds were poised to improve Anthem's social and cooperative elements, but the delay of the first Cataclysm is probably the bitterest pill. BioWare says the Cataclysm is "a big focus for the team," and it will share more information on its status in May.
Robertson and Irving said that, in the future, BioWare will endeavor to reveal new features only "once the work is closer to being done" to prevent delays like this. The studio is also planning to set up a "Player Feedback Environment" to "provide more ways to get your feedback and for you to tell us what you think is fun (or not fun)." It's unclear what this feedback system will look like, though BioWare says it'll only be available on PC for the short-term. I'm assuming it'll be similar to a public test server.
"We know you have been waiting for these updates, and that you might not be pleased with where we are today," Robertson and Irving said. "We understand and respect these perspectives. The only thing we can say is this – We Believe in Anthem. We believe the game will be great, but we recognize getting there will take a lot of hard work. We want to do that work and we want you all to join us on the journey to get there."
As we said earlier this month, Anthem isn't beyond redemption, but it is fighting an uphill battle - and it's clearly going to be a long one.
