Anthem’s Servers Go Dark
At around 2:05 pm Eastern time, Anthem quietly reached its final game over. Players still exploring its launch bay, strongholds, and freeplay zones were suddenly kicked out to the title screen with a simple popup saying they had lost connection to EA’s servers. Any attempt to log back in ended with an error retrieving Anthem live service data. After almost seven years, Anthem is officially offline.
For many PC gamers, Anthem had become a symbol of what can go wrong with big budget live service games. Developed by BioWare and published by EA, it launched back in early 2019 as a third person looter shooter built around futuristic power armor suits and always online co op. The concept sounded perfect on paper, but its reality was far messier.
PC Gamer’s review at launch scored Anthem a 55 out of 100. That lukewarm reception never really improved, even after multiple patches and content updates. Yet in its final hours, you could still see why some players stuck around to the end.
The Joy of Flying and the Pain of Everything Else
If there is one thing almost everyone agrees on, it is that Anthem absolutely nailed the fantasy of being in a high tech suit of armor. The game’s Javelin exosuits let you boost into the sky, hover over battles, and dive through waterfalls to cool your jets. Flying felt smooth, punchy, and surprisingly close to the dream of being Iron Man.
Streamers revisiting the game for its shutdown were reminded of that magic. Future Games Show presenter Jules Gill tried Anthem for the first time only a week before the servers went offline and called the Interceptor Javelin so fun to play. Cutting through enemies in strongholds felt fast and stylish, especially when chaining melee attacks and dodges in mid air.
Another streamer, Rurikhan, known for his Monster Hunter content, jumped in as the Colossus Javelin. He clearly enjoyed the heavy playstyle, laughing his way through fights while smashing enemies with the shield and firing artillery shells. That satisfying weight and impact captured some of what Anthem could have been at its best.
But every time the action slowed down, Anthem’s problems came rushing back. Players had to trudge through repetitive quests, awkward story pacing, and a social hub that often felt more like a chore than a home base. The contrast between the amazing flight system and the rest of the game was so strong that even Anthem’s own former executive producer later pointed to it as proof of how troubled development had been.
According to those who worked on the game, Anthem struggled with unclear creative direction from very early on. Systems did not mesh together cleanly, and design decisions around flying never fully accounted for how it would affect combat balance, encounter design, or even level layout. The result was a game where the best part constantly highlighted how flat everything else felt.
From Reinvention Plans to Final Shutdown
After launch, Anthem tried to recover through updates and live service content, but reception to its post release support was mixed at best. Players wanted more meaningful loot, smoother progression, better endgame activities, and stronger storytelling. Instead the game stumbled through seasonal content that never really fixed its core issues.
BioWare eventually announced a bold plan to reinvent Anthem. Internally called Anthem Next, this project was supposed to rework major systems, similar to how some other online games have managed big comebacks. For a while there was hope that the game might pull off a redemption arc.
That never happened. In February 2021, EA officially cancelled Anthem Next and ended ongoing development. The servers stayed up, but Anthem shifted into a kind of quiet limbo. No new content, no big expansions, just a small dedicated community flying through familiar strongholds and freeplay zones for years.
In July, EA confirmed that the end was finally coming and set the shutdown date. For many people who had moved on, it was just another headline about a live service game being sunset. For those still playing, it meant saying goodbye to a world they had invested hundreds of hours in.
On shutdown day, viewers could hop between different Anthem streams and see a condensed version of the entire experience. Excitement when the Javelins took off. Genuine fun in the middle of hectic battles. Then confusion or boredom whenever the game forced players back into its clumsy menus, fetch quests, or story beats.
One streamer, DreadfulSapien, was mid boss fight in a stronghold when the servers went down for good. There was no cinematic farewell or scripted final event. Just a disconnect. Reflecting on it, they said the poetic nature of it is that the game is unfinished, and we were not done playing it. But now we are. And I think that is really unfortunate.
What Anthem’s Ending Means for PC Gamers
Anthem’s shutdown is another reminder of the risk that comes with always online games built entirely around live service models. When the servers go dark, the whole experience simply disappears. You cannot revisit the campaign, there is no offline mode, and all that technology and art and design work lives on only in videos and memories.
For PC players who tried Anthem, there is also a sense of missed potential. The game had one of the best feeling flight systems in any sci fi action title and an incredible foundation for co op power fantasy. With more focused design, better long term planning, and a stronger content pipeline, it might have joined the ranks of the great co op looter shooters.
Instead it has become a cautionary tale that developers and publishers will study for years. Anthem shows how impressive tech, strong art direction, and a cool core mechanic are not enough by themselves. Live service games need clear vision, reliable updates, and systems that respect players’ time if they want to survive.
Anthem is gone now, but its lessons will live on in the next generation of PC shooters and co op worlds. And somewhere in those future games, you will probably feel a familiar rush the first time you boost into the sky in a high tech suit and remember what it was like to take off in a Javelin over Bastion for the very first time.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/anthem-is-finally-officially-dead/
