BioWare’s multiplayer shooterAnthemwill have its servers shut down on June 06, 2025.
Anthem was once seen as a black mark on BioWare’s near-impeccable record, but in the six years since the game’s release, the legendary studio’s reputation has further declined. Now, Anthem is seen as a warning sign for the endemic dysfunction within the studio, a monument to the fallacy of relying on “BioWare Magic” to save an undercooked game.
BioWare Magic was a term used within BioWare to describe how the studio’s chaotic development cycles often came together at the last minute to create a compelling game. Dragon Age: Inquisition was a prime example of BioWare Magic in action.
Now, the critically panned Anthem is finally shutting down its servers after six years. Anthem was never released on Steam, so there’s no publicly accessible data on how many players were still playing Anthem, but it’s exceedingly unlikely there are more than a couple of dozen players who regularly play the game.
Anthem Will No Longer Be Playable From January 2026
“We have an important update to share regarding Anthem,“the post reads. “After careful consideration, we will be sunsetting Anthem on Jul 06, 2025. This means that the game will still be playable online for the next 180+ days. As of today, you may no longer purchase in-game premium currency, but you can still use your remaining balance until the servers go offline.”
“We deeply appreciate your dedication, passion and support over the years, and we’d like to thank you for that,” the post concludes.
While it’s not uncommon for companies to shut down servers for games, consumers often take issue when the game is rendered unplayable by the shutdown of these servers. Because, even if you never play the game, something you paid for is now being taken away from you, i.e. you’re being deprived of the option of playing the game.
A solution to this is to allow players to host private servers, but developers and publishers are hesitant to facilitate these solutions because of concerns regarding intellectual property rights.
Unfortunately for the Anthem faithful, Electronic Arts is unlikely to offer this option.
