Anthem Story DLC Will Be Free for All Players

During its panel at PAX West this weekend, BioWare revealed that story DLC for Anthem will be made available to all players free of charge, according to a report from VG247.

When answering an audience question regarding story-based content for the game, Executive Producer Mark Darrah said “For storytelling we don’t want to divide the audience, we want people to be able to experience the same stories so none of that is going to be locked.”

A variety of content updates will be made available after launch, including new missions, gear, and cosmetics. Players will have the option to earn cosmetics in-game or purchase them with real money, but Darrah reiterated that loot boxes will not be present in the game. During a Q&A session at EA Play in June, Darrah said “We are going to have some cosmetics and vanity items that you’ll be able to purchase, but you’re always going to know what you’re going to buy before you spend any money on it.”

EA is positioning Anthem to be its next major franchise, and so far, it has done a pretty good job of alleviating some of the biggest concerns that have been expressed for the game. Some BioWare fans feared that the story in the multiplayer-focused shooter would be lacking, so the fact that the game’s world and characters will be explored further through free DLC is certainly great news. The concern over predatory DLC practices in the wake of the Star Wars Battlefront II debacle was the most prominent, however, so EA was wise to double down on the fact that loot boxes are a thing of the past.

Anthem will be released on February 22nd, 2019 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. EA recently announced that a demo for the game will be available for pre-order customers, as well as EA Access and Origin Access subscribers, on February 1st.