James Ohlen, the man behind titles such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars KOTOR, has squashed the rumours, or more like conspiracy theories, which claimed that EA's got a bigger say in Anthem things than BioWare themselves.
Having recently left his 22 year old BioWare post to work on pen and paper RPGs for Wizards of the Coast, Ohlen assured the company that Anthem is a meticulously planned project that cannot be yanked out of the dev's hands so easily.
"I know there's a lot of the conspiracy theories that EA is the one behind it, but that's never been the case. BioWare's always had a lot of control over the games it makes", Ohlen added. Of course, EA is bound to have some say in the project, but most certainly not to the extent these theories were suggesting.
A lot of these controversies sprouted up due to uncharacteristic nature of Anthem as a BioWare title. Unfortunately, many of these conspiracy theorists do not seem to recall BioWare having an already traditional knack for going in new directions.
Ohlen reminded them as well, offering Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: The Old Republic as examples. He stressed that Anthem was solely BioWare's doing and that it came as a result of wanting to try something different.
I've got to admit to the following quote giving me a chuckle, especially since it begs to be read in James Brown lingo voice. "The fact that BioWare is doing something different with Anthem doesn't mean that BioWare isn't going to do games that skew more towards the traditional style that BioWare is known for". How many BioWares is that?
Anyway, Ohlen is certain the company will do well with Anthem and so far, it seems like he isn't wrong. The game's been confirmed to pack a and associated microtransactions, so EA have something to look forward to as well, wink wink.
Ultimately though, there will always be those yearning for , as opposed to the new one. It's the same BioWare where Ohlen had his but that's a whole 'nother story.
