EA hits like Battlefield 4 and The Sims 4 were given time to bounce back from rough launches because they were “too big to fail,” whereas with BioWare’s Anthem, it wasn’t “a given that it was going to be that big”
Bioware veteran Mark Darrah shared his thoughts on why it seems like EA has moved on so quickly from the failure of Anthem, giving studios like DICE and Maxis plenty of time to fix games that also weren't successful at launch, like Battlefield 4 and The Sims 4 respectively.
In the latest episode of his “What Happened on Anthem” video series, Darrah revealed two big incentives for EA to invest more in fixing a game like Battlefield 4 rather than in Anthem.
“Battlefield had a track record of selling over 10 million copies, so in some ways it was considered too big to fail,” Darragh said. “It was already seen as a giant franchise, so the effort was seen as going back to what it had already been shown to be. Unlike something like Anthem, which was new. It wasn't clear, obvious or self-evident that it would be that big.”
So this is one reason for the apparent discrepancy. But, according to Darrah, “an even more important factor was simply the structure BiowareThe studio was never known for Anthem. She was famous for Dragon Age. Baldur's Gate. Mass Effect. If a new experiment like Anthem fails, BioWare might just fall back on one of its tried and true IPs.
Conversely, with DICE circa 2013, “your choice was either fix Battlefield 4 or close the studio,” Darrah said. “And for most of its recent history, EA has been very reluctant to close studios. Whereas in BioWare, because you have two, three, sometimes even four games fighting for resources, when something doesn't work as well as you wanted, there's always someone else who desperately needs those people, so there's always more pressure taking away those resources.”
What happened to Anthem: part 3 after launch, wishes and recommendations – YouTube
There is probably no greater authority on Anthem's failure than Darragh, at least the one who has spoken at such length on the subject. His multi-part video showdown explores the game's fundamental problems. unsuccessful multiplayer, sucks storyand now EA's reluctance to give BioWare the time and resources to turn things around.
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