Anthem won't be at EA's E3 show, despite Cataclysm update

Sci-fi looter shooter Anthem's long-awaited Cataclysm content update will be unveiled today, with a livestream on both Twitch and Mixer – as publisher EA reveals the game will not be part of the company's E3 2019 showcase.

The news will accompany the 1.2.0 update for the game, which (as developer BioWare previously stated) focusses on "bug fixes, stability, and game flow" rather than new gameplay moments.

1.2.0 delivers "under the hood content you won't see right away, but is setting things up for a future update, the Cataclysm," according to BioWare.

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Cataclysm is (or at least, was) set to be a huge moment for Anthem, setting the stage for the game as a service's long-term ongoing content plans. The time-sensitive update would offer "massive, world-changing events" and the "most ambitious and challenging content" for high-level, endgame players to take part in. Tougher enemies, raging storms and "new mysteries" are all set to be part of the Cataclysm. 

We'll be sure to update you with the precise details as soon as they're revealed in the livestream, which will play on both Twitch and Mixer at 3pm Central Time today.

A cataclysmic year

But is it too little, too late for BioWare's Anthem? Publisher EA appears to already be giving the game the cold shoulder – at least insofar as its big E3 showcase plans are concerned.

The company will be flaunting its wares in LA over a three-hour conference and livestream extravaganza, set to include titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Apex Legends, Battlefield V, FIFA 20, Madden NFL 20 and the ageing The Sims 4. 

But Anthem, once poised to be the company's big ongoing live-game concern, looks conspicuously absent, with new shooter poster child Apex Legends instead taking the limelight.

It's to a degree understandable from EA – Anthem was poorly received, plagued with bugs and lacking content at launch, while failing to nail the loot-shoot-repeat loop that the game's genre requires.

Anthem may be getting some solo time dedicated to it today, but it's definitely the black sheep of the EA family at present.

• Check out our full Anthem review

May 30, 2019 at 03:53PM
Gerald Lynch