Anthem Is Still Celebrating The Holidays And It's Kind Of Sad
BioWare's less-than-ideal shooter Anthem is fast approaching its one-year anniversary and its celebrating by... keeping the holiday decorations up? It seems some of the few players left in the game have noticed that there are still multi-colored lights and a sparkling blanket of snow on the ground. It's already February: why hasn't BioWare taken down the Christmas decorations?
As it turns out, Anthem received an update not too long ago at the end of January. This update extended the "Icetide Season" through February, even though the Christmas spirit has long faded from players' hearts. This means the decorations are still hanging, the seasonal shop is still up and running, and that freeplay, challenges, and weekly strongholds are still going strong.
Well, as strong as they can. Anthem isn't exactly the most successful game. This is probably why the glitter and glam of the Icetide Season seems more pitiful than delightful.
Anthem itself is kind of sad
BioWare's name was forever tarnished upon the release of Anthem. The studio is usually known for choice-based narrative adventures like the Mass Effect franchise, and though Anthem came with all the cool, sci-fi tech fans love, there weren't very many players interested in playing. Mass Effect fans did not flock to a game that has been yoked with the reputation of being a Destiny clone.
Anthem has never had the kind of robust player base needed to be a successful shooter, either. After a shaky launch that left players confused as to how they could play Anthem – if they even wanted to in the first place — people quickly discovered that the game was a grind fest with serious flaws. Anthem was not up to snuff with the usual quality expected out of BioWare, and to this day, it suffers from a dwindling player base and lackluster reviews.
All this considered, the extended Icetide Season seems more sad than celebratory.