So if you're anything like me you're very interested in Anthem which means you've heard all the hype annnnnnnd...
All the controversy.
Many of you may have even stepped up to the plate like I did and played one or both of the demos. If you did then you saw first hand all the problems and connection issues that plagued what was supposed to be a completed game. Obviously new details have come to light about the demos and Bioware has made many assurances that they have fixed and patched most of the issues encountered. I myself can say that during the free demo a lot of progress was made in a very short period of time. The Friday of the free demo the game ran like a flaming garbage truck with a broken transmission. However, by Sunday the game ran more like my project car. Gets you around decent enough but it's obvious it still needs a lot of work. That being said what can we expect from launch? The question gets asked so much I'm sure Bioware devs hear it in their sleep. Welp, having worked in QA for multiple video game companies including Electronic Arts I think I can offer some insight and possibly some reassurances about this game.
Or I'll just reinforce your paranoia and drive you away from it. In short, I'm probably not going to change minds about Anthem but do me a favor and read along anyway.
So from experience I can tell you that the demo of Anthem was a completely different build which is hopefully, something you already know. What I can also tell you is that not a lot of QA time goes into that build. When we got demos (which was rare) in the QA team maybe one or two of us would work on it for a few days and then it would ship. Demos were (and obviously still are) considered low priority builds. They're literally nothing more than interactive commercials in EA's eyes. The game on the other hand, is an entirely different beast.
So the fact that Anthem's demo was a buggy mess shouldn't be a concern. The fact that the servers ran like hot garbage under a very reduced player load should be. Remember, this is a finished game. Anthem went gold less than a week before the VIP demo went up. It should be ready for prime time and it wasn't, not by any stretch of the imagination.
So what can we expect from launch then? A clean game that constantly kicks you out? Not necessarily. As I mentioned before Bioware made a HUGE amount of progress from the the Friday to the Sunday of the free demo and I can NOT understate how much work that is in such a short period of time. The fact that they got Anthem to run that well is a testament to how dedicated Bioware is to making sure Anthem works and works well. Because they have even more time between the last demo and the "early trial" launch date gives me hope that when Anthem does finally launch we'll have a relatively stable platform. But what about bugs? How buggy will the launch be? Sadly, I can assure you all that Anthem will NOT be bug free.
While I heap praise on Bioware for getting Anthem's connectivity issues resolved so quickly all that really did was highlight how many bugs hadn't been fixed yet. U.I.'s glitched out, buttons wouldn't respond to inputs, weapons still dropped with 0% inscriptions and gameplay controls sometimes didn't respond. Those bugs are not a simple matter to correct and because they were in the demo now the QA team has to pour over the live build again from top to bottom to make sure none of those same bugs somehow slipped through the cracks. Two weeks simply isn't enough time to make sure the live game is running up to par. Will Bioware ever get Anthem to run smoothly? Of course they will but they're going to need time to get it there and that is something not even the internal team can predict right now.
While I can't recommend buying Anthem on day one for anyone who hasn't already pre-ordered it I can say that those who have pre-ordered the game should hold onto it. Check in once in a while but don't go full out on it. Play something else for at least a month, preferably two and keep an eye on reviews and content creators' impressions of the game before you do a deep dive into it. Once you feel that Anthem has reached that plateau of stability that you think it'll be worth your time to invest in it then by all means do so. I can definitely assure you that once this game is running up to par it is going to blow you away. I mean come on, this is the same team that turned Mass Effect Andromeda around and made it run really well. They'll work their magic on Anthem, trust me.