Anthem will not feature romance mechanics

Bioware's new online shooter is looking particularly nice but there was one thing missing from their E3 reveal trailer that fans have come to expect from the studio.

You can don a suit of powerful armour capable of withstanding the most devastating attacks. Utilise a wide arsenal of deadly weapons to battle the unspeakable horrors that now inhabit our world. You can even fly through the air like Iron Man. But, there is one thing still missing from Anthem's shiny new trailer, and that's Bioware's usual romance system.

Previous Bioware titles have all featured the ability to romance the game world's NPCs and form relationships of your choosing with said characters. It seems like that is not going to be an option in Anthem with Bioware lead producer Mike Gamble stating in an interview with Game Informer that: "There are no romances. There are friendships".

Gamble also went on to say that "some of the stuff we did with Mass Effect - the Citadel DLC specifically - there was a lot of friendship moments. You and Garrus sitting up, shooting - that kind of stuff, we want to lean into that. The romantic stuff, we're moving away from that for Anthem."

Looks to us like Bioware just friend-zoned its fan base, let's hope there's no need for distractions and Anthem keeps us all so busy with its intense action that romance is the last thing on our minds.

Anthem launches for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 22, 2019. If you're looking for more info check out our thoughts on Anthem's E3 demo here.