EA Pulls the Plug on Anthem Servers, Game Goes Offline for Good
EA’s online multiplayer action game Anthem has officially gone offline, with the servers being shut down for good. This means that Freelancers can no longer explore the game’s virtual world. Unfortunately, there are no plans to introduce an offline mode, rendering Anthem completely unplayable. The decision to turn off the servers was announced by EA back in July, giving players a six-month window to enjoy the game before it was taken offline.
Anthem was launched on February 22, 2019, but faced numerous challenges right from the start due to major performance issues. This led to significant delays in the Act 1 roadmap, with developer BioWare going quiet as they tried to address the game’s shortcomings. Reports also surfaced about development issues during the game’s creation. The first major in-game event, Cataclysm, took six months to be introduced after the game’s launch.
In February 2020, BioWare announced plans to “reinvent” Anthem with a project called Anthem NEXT. This initiative aimed to revamp the gameplay loop and overall experience by eliminating seasons. However, the project never came to fruition as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global development efforts. The pandemic caused delays in game development as countries implemented lockdown measures to curb the virus spread. Due to these challenges and slow progress, EA ultimately decided to cease all further development for Anthem.
Source: EA
