A producer at BioWare has confirmed that the company still remains committed to Anthem. This statement comes in response to speculation that the studio has moved its development focus over to Dragon Age 4.
Chad Robertson, head of live service at BioWare, stated on Twitter that the studio is “100% committed” to its embattled looter-shooter. Lead producer Mike Gamble also chimed in to say that BioWare’s commitment to Anthem hasn’t changed. Additionally, he mentioned that speculation about the team moving on to Dragon Age 4 is “incorrect.”
There's been a lot of (incorrect) speculation on this. The studio's support and commitment to anthem HAS. NOT. CHANGED. https://t.co/uxwY3ADPRO
— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) May 3, 2019
The speculation in regards to Dragon Age 4 was likely spawned from a tweet by Mark Darrah, the executive producer for both Anthem and the Dragon Age series. The tweet in question rather bluntly suggested that his team was currently working on Dragon Age 4:
We aren't working on Dragon Age 3
We aren't working on Dragon Age 5
…
I guess that's that.— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) May 1, 2019
This tweet led directly into the conversation that ended with Robertson and Gamble reiterating that BioWare remains committed to Anthem. However, this doesn’t mean BioWare isn’t working on other projects, including Dragon Age 4. One of the conversations seems to indicate that Darrah is no longer personally working on Anthem.
@BenIrvo and @crobertson_atx are your dudes to follow.
— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) May 1, 2019
Gamble’s reply indicates that Robertson and Anthem lead producer Ben Irving are now in charge of the game.
Anthem has had a rocky few months since its launched back in February. The team recently had to delay its first Cataclysm event so that the developers could focus on fixing many of the issues that still plague the game.
“We want to make sure we aren’t overpromising,” states Robertson. “So our updates on what’s coming in the game will be focused when we have things near completion.” He further stated that the developers had a big team between their Austin and Edmonton studios, and that the crew was determined to keep improving the game.
As for Dragon Age 4, BioWare’s size does mean that another, totally separate team led by Darrah is likely working on it. That said, BioWare probably wants to show that it’s committed to fixing Anthem first before saying anything more about that title.
