On July 3, 2025, Electronic Arts (EA) has announced that "Anthem" (the online multiplayer action game developed by 'BioWare') will have its servers shut down on January 12, 2026 and we can see that the time is now too close. This means that after this date, Anthem will be completely unplayable, even for people who already own it, because it does not have an offline mode or single-player mode. For those who don't know about this game, Anthem is an online based multiplayer action game which was originally launched in February 2019 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with big ambitions.
Its ambitions include customizable exosuits called Javelins and cooperative missions on an alien world. However, the game struggled from the beginning as critics and players pointed to shallow gameplay content, technical issues, and also lack of meaningful updates. As a result, a planned major overhaul known as Anthem 2.0 was canceled in 2021, and development ended while the community hoped for improvements that never materialized. Also this original game will come to its end soon.
On July 3, 2025 itself, in a blog post, EA and BioWare explained that Anthem will remain online for about six more months, during which players can still log in, play, and use any in-game premium currency they already own. However, purchases of new copies or in-game currency are no longer possible, and the game will be removed from EA's 'subscription service' (EA Play) on August 15, 2025. Some players have organized final play events in the last days before the shutdown, hoping to celebrate what the game did well before its final closure.
The interesting part is that, EA and BioWare have not pointed to a single dramatic event that forced the shutdown. But instead, it's the result of long-term commercial and development decisions. Although EA sold millions of copies, but it struggled to keep a large active player base and also failed to sustain frequent updates or expansions that live-service games typically need to thrive. That's the reason why Anthem never reached the level of success EA expected. BioWare initially planned a major overhaul (Anthem 2.0) to completely rework the game's structure and fix its issues. This was announced in 2020 but ultimately canceled in 2021. This cancelation was made partly because of shifting priorities of EA and BioWare towards other major franchises like "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age".
Players who already own Anthem, need to know right now that the servers are still running, which means you can still play Anthem online and connect with others until January 12, 2026. EA has already removed the ability to buy in-game premium currency, but players who already have currency can still spend it before the shutdown. BioWare has confirmed that ending Anthem’s service has not resulted in any layoffs within the studio. What do you guys think of EA's decision? Have you tried out "Anthem"? How was this game to you? Let us know your answers in the comments.