BioWare veteran says Anthem was slow to accept it was a looter shooter

Gamesradar reports that BioWare veteran producer Mark Darrah says Anthem "took a very long time to admit to itself that it was a looter shooter," and that the team was studying Diablo more than Destiny as it developed the game.

The article notes this view aligns with a 2019 Kotaku report by Jason Schreier, in which sources said BioWare leadership pushed back on references to Destiny despite developers arguing they should learn from that market leader. It also points out that Diablo's influence is common across loot-driven games, while Destiny's bespoke raid and dungeon activities and endgame rewards represent design areas that other looter shooters have struggled to match.

Darrah made the comments in a new interview with Destin Legarie. The piece does not state whether BioWare later adopted Destiny-style endgame design or how the studio applied these retrospective lessons.

Key Topics

Culture, Bioware, Anthem, Mark Darrah, Destiny, Diablo