Anthem, the upcoming online sci-fi loot and shoot RPG from developer BioWare has already undergone one key change as a result of a player feedback from the recent alpha tests.
Lead producer Michael Gamble, took to Twitter to announce, that the game will be getting a social hub. It’s called the Launch Bay, and it’ll be a place to unwind after missions, hang with friends, show off their mech suits, and maybe pick up a new contract.
Up to 16 players will be able to hang out in a launch bay at a time. While it’s fairly basic compared to social hubs in other games, this was clearly something of a last minute addition after players were surprised to discover Anthem didn’t already offer a social area where players could see other players, as opposed to just talking to them over voice chat.
Players had previously been vocal about their desire to see a proper social hub in addition to the Tarsis area, which a hub full of NPCs that you can explore alone to progress the story and grab new missions.
Thankfully, Gamble and the rest of the team at BioWare clearly want to make Anthem the best game it can be, and have been responsive to player feedback throughout the development process.
The Launch Bay won’t be available in the VIP demo, which starts today (January 25), but Gamble has said it’ll be in the game in time for its February 22 launch. We’ll learn more details on this new social hub before then, too.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.