And just like that, potential Anthem fans can cancel their pre-orders for now. Electronic Arts says that it’s delaying the highly-anticipated online role-playing game into 2019 and dashing the hopes of fans waiting to get their hands on it.
Electronic Arts confirmed the Anthem delay during its earnings call earlier today, and understandably, some fans are disappointed. The publisher showed off Anthem at this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo in a big way. The game wasn’t playable, but there was a demo revealing the different Javeline suits that players could wear and how squads could interact with each other.
According to a banner on the game’s website, Anthem is now set for an “Early 2019” launch. That gives its development team at least two more months to get the game ready for the public.
I could see why EA wouldn’t want to risk releasing a half-baked game in the fall. Anthem is a hugely important title for them. Not only is it an online game made to compete directly with Destiny 2, it’s also Bioware’s first release since Mass Effect Andromeda failed to deliver solid sales and accolades from series fans.
Sometimes you gotta spend just as much time being good as you do looking good. Hopefully, the delay won’t dampen enthusiasm for the game in the new year. But Electronic Arts is definitely making the right call.
Polygon reports sales of Star Wars Battlefront 2 missed the company’s sales targets by a million copies, so clearly it isn’t a good day in their corporate offices.