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BioWare Details Anthem's 90 Day Roadmap

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Published: February 24, 2019 12:13 PM

Despite the mixed reception over Anthem, BioWare is going full steam ahead with their live service plans for the game, showcasing over three months worth of content to encompass their first major updates to Anthem.

First teased two weeks ago, BioWare has rolled back the curtain on their plans for Act 1: Echoes of Reality. All of the content promised in the preview will be released over the next 90 days, as part of their year 1 of content updates. Echoes of Reality will also include constant recurring updates, from gameplay improvements through patches ( a major point of contention due to the number of bugs found in the game on launch) to weekly, daily and monthly challenges and weekly alliance coin handouts.

The major plans for the upcoming 90 days include major additions such as Guilds, Leaderboards and Weekly Stronghold challenges for players. A brand new stronghold, titled The Sunken, will also be added in April.

One interesting note about Strongholds is they will soon also contain vanity chests, as confirmed by producer Ben Irving on the most recent BioWare Anthem stream. These vanity chests would contain only vanity items, such as vinyls and emotes, and must be unlocked by using keys which can be earned by completing daily challenges.

Irving mentions on stream that these vanity chests can contain hundreds of different items, and will be found in strongholds to help increase the amount of specialized loot for players. All players in a stronghold also reap the benefits of the chest so long as one player has a key to open it, and no duplications are confirmed as rewards, so once its earned you won't get it again.

March and April will feature two different phases of Legendary Contract missions and numerous freeplay events. Freeplay events are random quests to complete while roaming the game's map in freeplay. Interestingly BioWare has already released three new freeplay events into the game, but two of them, Outlaw Rage and There Be Giants are listed twice, for February and March, while the third, Shaper Surge, is listed for February and April.  It is currently unknown if freeplay events are released at different intervals for a limited time, or once released, they remain a part of the rotation of random encounters.

The final big event will be the promised Cataclysm in May, which there are still no details about at this time.

In addition to all of these missions and events, new items and cosmetics will be released each month for players to find, craft, or purchase. Finally, the mastery progression system, which was removed in the game's alpha due to negative feedback, will make a return totally revamped.

Head of live service, Chad Robertson, also posted a blog on BioWare's website to express his gratitude towards players interested in Anthem, and to showcase their enthusiasm for bringing more content to the game.

While launch is our most significant step yet, it is also just the first of many in fulfilling our long-term vision for the game.

I look at today from two perspectives. As a gamer, I’m excited by what we’ve created with Anthem and the promise it carries for a long future behind the game’s lush world, immersive lore, rich characters, and core gameplay. As a developer, I know we’ve worked hard to strike a balance of engaging BioWare story combined with fun action-gameplay and multi-player progression; I also know how much more we want to bring to the game.

Anthem’s launch represents a commitment we’re making to you: we’re just getting started.

Robertson promises constant updates to Anthem, along with absorbing as much feedback as possible from the community to help improve the game.

You can check out our own Anthem review here.

What are your thoughts on their 90-day roadmap? Is this good for Anthem? Leave your comments below. 

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert

More Info About This Game
Learn More About Anthem
Game Page Anthem
Developer
Bioware
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Platforms
Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Release Date
February 22, 2019 (Calendar)
Genre
Action RPG
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