New Mass Effect reportedly in ‘very early development and Anthem 2.0 planned’
Mike Gamble said to be directing Mass Effect Andromeda follow-up
A new Mass Effect game is reportedly in the “very early” stages of development at BioWare Edmonton.
The game is being directed by Mike Gamble, Kotaku reports.
Gamble has worked at BioWare for a decade, serving as development manager on Mass Effect 2 and in producer roles on Mass Effect 3 and the last entry in the series, 2017’s Mass Effect Andromeda.
More recently Gamble served as lead producer on Anthem, a title which is reportedly in line for a major overhaul as BioWare looks to turn around the fortunes of its first new intellectual property in over a decade.
Shortly before quitting his job in October, BioWare head of live services Chad Robertson revealed the studio was ditching Anthem’s post-launch Acts content structure in favour of additional “seasonal updates” as it continued to work on fixes for “core issues” with the game, which launched in February.
According to Kotaku, there’s no clear timeline for “Anthem 2.0” or “Anthem Next,” as some are referring to it internally.
Plans for the overhaul are described as being in flux, but it’s claimed missions, loot and the game world “will change drastically”.
Changes could arrive through a series of updates or in the form of a brand-new game, although existing Anthem players would reportedly be unlikely to have to pay full price for it if this was the case.
Despite the game’s well documented troubles, it’s perhaps unsurprising that BioWare hasn’t given up on Anthem given past comments from EA CEO Andrew Wilson.
He backed BioWare to turn Anthem’s fortunes around in June, stating BioWare’s parent company still had faith in the IP, which he said was on a 7-10-year journey.
A month earlier, Wilson said the publisher is likely to adopt soft launches for future online-focused games like Anthem in order to try and ensure there are less issues when its titles are rolled out to a wider audience.
Another project in development at BioWare, Dragon Age 4, isn’t expected to be released before April 2022, according to EA.
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