The blockbuster game that's being called the next 'Destiny' is delayed into 2019, according to a new report
- EA, the game publisher behind "Madden" and "FIFA" and "Mass Effect," is hard at work on its next big franchise: "Anthem."
- According to a new report on Kotaku, the game is facing development issues, and it has a new launch window: Early 2019.
- The game was revealed in June 2017; it was given a "fall 2018" release window at the time.
The next major game franchise from one of the world's largest game publishers, EA, is reportedly in trouble.
The game, which is named "Anthem," is reportedly being pushed from its scheduled fall 2018 launch window to some point in early 2019. The report comes from a new piece in Kotaku, which details a pressure-filled culture at EA's BioWare studios in Austin and Edmonton.
"There's a sense among BioWare employees that the company's future is inextricably tied to this game," Kotaku's Jason Schreier reports.
"Anthem" is a major game for EA, doubly so for the BioWare group. The last BioWare game was a failure of such large scale that the entire "Mass Effect" franchise - a beloved series that's sold tens of millions of copies - was hurt in the process.
That game was 2017's "Mass Effect Andromeda," a game intended to start a whole new story arc in the futuristic, science fiction "Mass Effect" series. But "Andromeda" was a major flop, critically and commercially, which led to the outright closure of one major BioWare office in Montreal. Moreover, the entire "Mass Effect" franchise was reportedly put on "hiatus" following the failure of "Andromeda."
Given that misstep, it makes sense that current BioWare staffers working on the studio's next big game are feeling serious pressure to succeed with "Anthem." For its part, BioWare owner EA didn't respond to a request for comment as of publishing.
Read the full piece on Kotaku right here, and check out the first gameplay trailer for "Anthem" below: