Anthem has not had the kind of launch BioWare was hoping for. Releasing to critical reviews and a lukewarm reception at best from many players, it was hardly the gaming revolution that had been promised. Now, even some of those steadfast players who stuck with Anthem's potential are losing faith.
BioWare is best known for its single player, story-driven RPGs, and so the move towards a Destiny-esque loot shooter was met with a fair few raised eyebrows. Nonetheless, the idea of some of the finest narrative builders in the industry taking on a different genre did have some optimism around it, until Anthem launched with a huge number of issues and a surprising lack of meaningful content. Since then, the behind-the-scenes turmoil has painted a picture of a rushed development cycle and yet another example of health-destroying crunch due to poor management at a high level.
Because of this, Anthem's devoted have started to turn their backs on the game. A look at the game's subreddit reveals not just the usual pieces of fan art and screenshots, but instead players who have run out of patience with BioWare and with Anthem as a whole. In one example, user Arman64 suggests that BioWare is purely to blame for the toxicity surrounding Anthem, accusing the studio of lying about the game at E3, pushing devs to exhaustion in search of 'BioWare magic', and releasing an unfinished game. Based on the comments and fact that the post is nearly six thousand upvotes in the green, it's a feeling that many clearly share.
That isn't a one-off, either. SuperNurseGuy is a former devoted BioWare fan, based on the quality of previous entries in the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises as well as Knights of the Old Republic. Yet here there's a claim of never pre-ordering another BioWare game after the mess that is Anthem. Throughout the thread, you can see agreement from others, matching up with that embarrassing survey of Anthem players.
The sense of betrayal doesn't just come from the quality of the game, however, and instead from how BioWare has mishandled communication with fans since release. As put by NiaFZ92, the fact that BioWare has shifted into Dragon Age 4 development while Anthem is still a mess has left a sour taste for many. Even though BioWare claims it is still committed to Anthem, the parallels with Mass Effect: Andromeda run deep.
All in all, this doesn't bode well for the state of Anthem. Already it looks as though the decreasing player base may kill off the game entirely, with EA also considering the way it will release games going forward. The title has proved to be a breach of trust for BioWare's faithful, and it could take a long time to recover from this.