Anthem Putting Star Wars: The Old Republic At Risk
Recently there have been reports that EA is putting pressure on its Bioware studio, who make “Star Wars: The Old Republic”, to make sure they get their new multiplayer action game Anthem ready for launch in early 2019.
While there is still a small team maintaining Star Wars: The Old Republic, the bulk of BioWare’s staff in both Edmonton and Austin are now working on Anthem. BioWare employees are feeling that the company’s future is tied to this game.
BioWare has also discussed ending development on the multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic, those sources said, although one person familiar with the studio told me recently that plans are still up in the air.
The game launched in 2011 and has been getting less updates, with EA pushing for bigger profits from online games like FIFA and Star Wars Battlefront 2. And following disappointments from Mass Effect Andromeda and Star Wars Battlefront II for EA, there is a lot more pressure on Bioware to get Anthem right.
Also since the launch of this game, Disney purchased Star Wars and with new movies being created, there is a feeling that it doesn’t fit the current direction of the Star Wars franchise. Plus the gaming world has changed since it launched, with big online games on consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One, plus the rise of mobile games. However the game is still making money for EA, but new content will no doubt slow down further with a smaller team working on it.
So are the days of Star Wars: The Old Republic numbered?
With MMOs moving away from the old World of Warcraft style, and SWTOR being no longer in continuity, it would make sense for them to do a graceful shut down of the game with an event of some sort. I loved the time I spent with the game, but it’s probably time for something new to take its placed.
That said, I have very little faith in Anthem at the moment, but we also haven’t seen much so it is hard to judge.