Anthem Producer Blames Breath of the Wild for Mass Effect: Andromeda’s Failure
Posted on June 28 2018 by Rod Lloyd
BioWare’s action RPG Anthem was one of the marquee showings at EA’s E3 presentation. While the publisher hopes that the sci-fi title will launch a brand new blockbuster franchise, some are skeptical due to the disappointing reception to BioWare’s previous effort, Mass Effect: Andromeda, in March 2017. A lackluster story and various technical issues were cited as reasons for Andromeda‘s failure, but it seems members of BioWare’s development staff place part of the blame on a certain game in the Legend of Zelda franchise, as shown in a recent interview with Game Informer.
Anthem‘s executive producer Mark Darrah recently sat down for a rapid-fire interview with Game Informer, in which he answered over 100 questions about the new game and beyond. Midway through the interview, Darrah is asked whether or not he thought Mass Effect: Andromeda received a “fair shake,” answering in the negative:
“I think [Mass Effect: Andromeda] came out in a really, really busy window of RPG’s, perhaps the busiest window in the history of the game’s industry, where five RPG’s launched in the same month.”
Nier: Automata, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Horizon Zero Dawn, and a pair of Kingdom Hearts collections were among March 2017’s biggest sellers alongside Andromeda, but one Nintendo title in particular was called out by the BioWare producer. When asked to make his answer more concise, Darrah answered, “How about it came out the same month as Zelda?”
It’s no secret that Breath of the Wild has boasted great sales numbers since its release in 2017, but blaming its success for another game’s failure may be a misguided assessment. I’d like to think that if more work was done to polish Mass Effect: Andromeda internally, it would have resonated more with gamers, regardless of its release window.
Do you think Breath of the Wild had anything to do with Mass Effect: Andromeda‘s disappointments? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Game Informer
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
