Anthem Servers Deactivated
Electronic Arts (EA) permanently deactivated the servers for BioWare's multiplayer online shooter, Anthem, on January 12. The game became inaccessible and unplayable following the shutdown, which was confirmed by 7:00 PM GMT.
Background and Player Response
The exact shutdown time was initially unconfirmed, with speculation around different timezones. Players had anticipated the closure and engaged in farewell activities on the Anthem subreddit, sharing final moments and expressing sentiments related to the game. Increased player activity was observed in the week leading up to the shutdown, with many returning for a final playthrough or to complete achievements.
Game's History
EA had announced the game's closure in July of the previous year and subsequently removed Anthem from digital sale. The game, originally released in 2019, did not achieve the commercial success anticipated by EA and BioWare. Plans for a significant overhaul, referred to as "Anthem 2.0," were eventually abandoned. The game does not support offline play, rendering it completely unplayable after the server deactivation.