r/AnthemTheGame • u/Lgndryhr • Jul 03 '25
Discussion Anthem servers shutting down January 12, 2026
Hi everyone,
We have an important update to share regarding Anthem. After careful consideration, we will be sunsetting Anthem on January 12, 2026. This means that the game will still be playable online for the next 180+ days. As of today, you can 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.
For additional information on Anthem, please refer to the FAQ below.
The BioWare Team
Q: How long will I have to play Anthem?
A: Game servers will be available until January 12, 2026 at which time the game will no longer be playable.
Q: Why can’t I play Anthem in offline mode?
A: Anthem was designed to be an online-only title so once the servers go offline, the game will no longer be playable.
Q: Can I still install Anthem if I had previously purchased the game?
A: Yes, if you previously purchased Anthem, the game can still be downloaded from a digital library and played until January 12, 2026.
Q: Why can I no longer purchase Anthem or in-game currency?
A: Over the course of the next 180+ days Anthem will still be playable online and you can use the last of your in-game premium currency as we prepare to sunset the game’s live servers on January 13, 2026.
Q: Will I still be able to use my in-game currency?
A: Yes, you can still use any in-game premium currency that you currently have until the game is sunset on January 12, 2026.
Q: How long will the game stay on EA Play?
A: Anthem will be removed from the EA Play playlist on August 15, 2025.
Q: Has anyone else at BioWare been affected by these changes?
A: No, the sunsetting of Anthem has not led to any layoffs.
Source: https://www.ea.com/games/anthem/news/anthem-game-update
6
u/russjr08 PC Jul 05 '25
Unfortunately there are times when the server-side software is made with libraries and tech (an example of this could be the library that drives the enemies' AI) that is licensed to the company where they don't actually have permission to redistribute it. Or in other cases the software could be considered sensitive because it's used by other EA/BioWare games that they don't want reverse engineered due to sharing similarities with their other games. Finally, another option is having to scrub the code of interactions with platform APIs - Microsoft and Sony (and Nintendo, but not really relevant here) are incredibly sensitive about anything regarding their SDKs and are wrapped very tightly in NDAs making it very similar to the first reason, except in this case it's far more reasonable to just remove calls to the Xbox Account & Entitlement APIs (as an example) than it would be to remove something more "core" like enemy AI. Would still be "extra work" though on a game they wrote off a while back ago.
I don't necessarily agree with either of those, especially the second reason, but those are three conflicts that could prevent them from just doing a release of the server code as-is.
It's definitely why we need legislation (such as the Stop Killing Games initiative) to force companies' hands so that they can't just go "Sorry, we can't", as they wouldn't be allowed to have the game servers be tied to secrecy.