Ben Irving, the Lead Producer on BioWare’s Anthem, has announced that he is leaving the company after 8 years. Irving took to Twitter to express his gratitude to his fellow co-workers and BioWare, stating that working at BioWare had been a dream job for him:
(1/3) After 8 amazing years at BioWare I have made the decision to move on and have accepted an exciting opportunity at another gaming company. Since the first time I played Baldurs Gate many many years ago, BioWare was the dream place I always wanted to work.
— Ben Irving (@BenIrvo) August 15, 2019
Later in the 3-part heartfelt post, Irving also talked about the highly criticized Anthem, stating that he believes that the looter-shooter is in good hands and it has a bright future:
“I will forever be grateful to all the people who gave me the chance to work on great products with amazing people. I believe Anthem has a bright future – there is a great team working on it and I look forward to following its progress (and playing it!) from the sidelines.”
“I have really enjoyed interacting with the Anthem community – Streams, Twitter and Reddit. Through the good times and the tough times. You all are in great hands with @Darokaz and @UNTDrew (and have been for some time now). I wish nothing but the best for all of you. Ben.”
As Irving mentioned, the game will now be led by Jesse Anderson (Core Community Lead at EA) and Andrew Johnson (EA and BioWare Global Community Lead).
Anthem has had major problems since its launch in February ranging from its mundane and problematic loot system to its directionless development cycle. Even though Anthem’s highly-anticipated Cataclysm event has officially started, many gamers haven’t flocked back to BioWare’s latest title, most likely due to the game’s troubles. There’s a good chance that this news will not help Anthem’s perception as we see yet another member of Anthem’s higher-ups leave the game.
But, for those who are still flying around Bastion and enjoying the Cataclysm event so far, it does appear that EA has no plans to abandon Anthem. While speaking to GameDaily a few months ago, CEO of EA Andrew Wilson believes that Anthem is:
“on a seven to ten year cycle, it may not have had the start that many of us wanted, including our players. I feel like that team is really going to get there with something special and something great, because they’ve demonstrated that they can”
What are your thoughts on Ben Irving leaving BioWare? Are you still playing Anthem? Let us know in the comments below!
Avid gamer and placeholder of what is now the worst selfie of all time. Mostly an Xbox/PS4 player but I have been known to destroy friendships in Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
