Following its cancellation of Anthem Next, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has reported that Dragon Age 4 is a single-player focused RPG. Speaking to sources “familiar with the matter,” Schreier reports the title was originally meant to have multiplayer. It was not only the failure of Anthem but also the success of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order that apparently prompted this change.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is known for selling more than 10 million units within four months of its launch, surpassing sales expectations. With BioWare being more of a single-player title focused company, it was thought to be more suited to developing within its comfort zone. You would think a high-profile failure like Anthem wouldn’t be needed to make this apparent but here we are.

Dragon Age 4 currently doesn’t have a release window or announced platforms, though it’s most assuredly coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It’s set in the Tevinter Imperium, a magocracy that’s fallen in terms of power and influence. The project is being led by Christian Dailey, who was formerly in charge of Anthem Next.

When speaking on some of the bigger failures in gaming, BioWare’s Anthem definitely comes to mind. In development for several years but cobbled together near the end, the looter shooter launched with numerous issues. Though post-launch updates improved it, the developer had been planning a larger overhaul of the project.

Termed “Anthem Next“, this overhaul has been in the works for the past year and a half. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier on Twitter, publisher Electronic Arts will be reviewing its progress and “decide whether to expand the team or put an end to the project.” It’s worth noting that the development team has been in “incubation” mode for this time. Assuming the team is expanded, how long the overhaul will actually take to develop and implement remains to be seen.

BioWare Austin studio director Christian Dailey was in charge of leading Anthem Next. However, the departures of Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah from BioWare led to Dailey leading the Dragon Age team, which is currently working on the next sequel. Perhaps the overhaul will be axed in favor of committing resources to the company’s other games. Time will tell.

Anthem is currently available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

NEWS: For the last year and a half, BioWare has been in "incubation" mode overhauling the maligned online game Anthem.

This week, EA will review the progress of "Anthem Next" and decide whether to expand the team or put an end to the project. https://t.co/eQmTq2oEjZ

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 8, 2021