Fans are saying farewell to Anthem, BioWare’s failed live-service blockbuster, as its servers are switched off and the game disappears forever — officially, at least.
Anthem publisher EA announced last year that the jetpack-fuelled shooter had just months to live, and cautioned that the server shutdown would render the game completely unplayable, with its world, characters and lore no longer available once the plug was pulled. Now, as this day has neared, new and returning players have loaded up the game for one last flight, and to push for the game’s platinum trophy while they still can.
Others, meanwhile, have begun a small push to keep Anthem alive via custom private servers — though the effort has been hampered somewhat by the game’s lack of reach.
“I missed the server closure announcement last year, and just learned about it a couple days ago,” wrote one belated fan, CyberpwnPiper. “I had never played it so I decided to take the game for a spin before it’s too late, and the game is quite good. I’m just playing casually and I’m still a noob after about 4 hours in, but there’s a solid foundation here. There are good bones. The visuals are fantastic, the combat and action are fun, and the javelin flight is phenomenal (and unique).”
Upon release, after a lengthy and troubled development, BioWare received praise for Anthem’s Javelin mechsuit combat and particularly its flight mechanic, which let you zoom around the game’s open world like Iron Man alongside a team of friends. But players and critics alike were less sold on Anthem’s threadbare attempt at storytelling, especially when compared to the studio’s beloved Dragon Age and Mass Effect games. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Anthem never convinced players of BioWare’s decision to pivot towards an online-only live-service, in an apparent attempt to recapture the crowd that had flocked to Bungie’s Destiny.
Still, players are continuing to find reasons to enjoy a dip into Anthem’s world, even if it is just to satisfy their curiosity before the game goes for good. “I truly wish I played it when it was released,” wrote BRB1993. “I knew the end was coming and I wanted to get the chance to say, ‘I was there’. I can honestly say that it scratched that same itch that Destiny does. The gunplay, the different Javelins (Colossus FTW!), the differing choice of abilities, the flying, the story (still can’t believe Owen did what he did!), the differing style of enemies, there’s too much to list!” Added CyberpwnPiper: “I wish I had started playing sooner to at least finish most of the story quests and experience different Javelin suits.”
Some returning players have meanwhile set themselves the challenge of unlocking Anthem’s full list of achievements/trophies, which will become unobtainable forever when the game’s servers go offline. It has been a race against time — though many have completed the feat over the past week as EA’s clock runs down.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling getting this platinum,” said AbsolutelyNotAClone. “I didn’t think I’d push away all other games and throw another work week’s worth of hours into it. But damn, I missed this game, and will miss it even more. I feel ashamed, I feel sad, but I feel so much better that I pushed for this platinum.” Fellow fan Rymus, meanwhile, said they’d just hit Anthem’s full Gamerscore on Xbox. “From the VIP weekend to the end this game will always be one of my faves despite the flaws,” they wrote. “Learning the game was shutting down I wanted to give it the honor it deserved. My ranger with the VIP decal [has] been my main from the beginning.”
“I wasn’t sure if I’d make it,” wrote Seeby4, who also unlocked Anthem’s platinum trophy. “Sooo many collectibles. I was getting burned out there following a YouTube guide but I locked in over the last four days and got it done! I didn’t have nearly as many hours as I know a lot of others did, but man, I’m gonna miss this game so much.”
“I finally got it done on time!” wrote KingExile96. “I wish they wouldn’t shut down. I wish they would just sell or give the game to another company, I want it to get another chance! It’s got its potential. It was stressful getting the trophies but it was so fun at the same, roaming around, fighting bosses doing elements combo, man… I’m gonna miss this game so much. Anthem will be in my heart 🫶🤘”
While there’s little chance Anthem will ever be officially revived or handed off to another developer, some fans still hope the game will become playable once again via custom PC servers. Several Discord groups have been set up to explore the possibility of making Anthem playable in future, the largest of which is The Fort’s Forge — a community that has been asking players to capture records of the game’s communications with EA servers, so these can then be backwards engineered.
This process has been slow, with just a handful of players helping out last year, but progress has now reached a point where a good amount of data has been obtained. Still, there’s no suggestion the game will be revived at any point in the near future, and it remains to be seen whether EA itself steps in to block the project’s progress. IGN has contacted the team behind the effort for more.
But while a handful of fans work on one potential future for the game, many others are now simply taking the chance to say goodbye. Dozens have recorded screenshots of their characters via one reddit thread for posterity, while others are simply reminiscing and sharing their thanks to BioWare and to their fellow players who served as the game’s Freelancers.
“I enjoyed it till the end and I have a lot of good memories,” wrote RobRagiel, who posted a video of their final flight around Anthem’s world. “It was an honor, Freelancers. For the Legion of Dawn!”
“I had played the game since launch and I loved it,” concluded Remarkable-Set-3340. “I wish this game had more time. See ya’ll in the sky’s till the sun sets one last time.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
