Anthem Developers Discussed a Free-to-Play Model During Early Development Phase

Anthem‘s Director and Lead Producer have revealed that BioWare discussed a free-to-play model for the upcoming title early on in development. Speaking to EDGE magazine (March 2019 issue), Jonathan Warner and Ben Irvin said that they ultimately decided against going free-to-play as it wouldn’t be a sustainable model.

Warner revealed that BioWare wasn’t ready to move into that direction, with Irvin adding:

If you go free-to-play, you still have to have a profitable business or we can’t continue to do an amazing live service for all our players. So what would you really be trading if you gave the game away for free? There’s all that money you’d have to make to be profitable. And so then you get into the territory of being less player-generous. I think in the AAA space, people are more comfortable paying the entry fee and then having a great player-generous model with no paid DLC, and optional vanity items that you can earn in-game currency to buy anyway.

Speaking of optional items, we recently got our first look at Anthem‘s in-game store, thanks to the demo. However, BioWare has reassured concerned fans that none of the prices are final (even though they fall in line with games like Fortnite), and that the image circulating online is outdated.

“Our ongoing delivery of content, features, and story comes with the game at no extra cost,” added General Manager, Casey Hudson.

Players will find out what Anthem‘s store really looks like on February 22, 2019. The game will release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

[Source: EDGE # 329 via Gaming Bolt]