"Anthem" is history, but it could have been so good

Philipp Rüegg

12/1/2026

Translation: machine translated

Tomorrow EA is shutting down the "Anthem" servers for good. Bioware's multiplayer shooter with flying mechs never really took off and that still bugs me today.

The hype surrounding «Anthem» was as huge as the mechs you could pilot through impressive sci-fi worlds. After the disastrous «Mass Effect: Andromeda», it was supposed to be Bioware's brilliant comeback. When «Anthem» was finally released on 22 February 2019, it quickly became clear that what had been shown so far was more pretence than reality. The E3 trailer from 2017 turned out to be mostly fake. Today is the last day you can play the game. Tomorrow, EA will pull the plug on the servers and close the chapter «Anthem» for good. It's a shame, because the game wasn't missing much and it would have been really good.

A construction site, but a beautiful one

«Anthem» is a co-operative shooter in which you control one of four Javelins. These are powerful, flying combat suits that all play differently. Interceptor is the most agile. It relies on fast blade attacks instead of thick armour. Storm is like a magician who can rain lightning down on opponents. Colossus, the heaviest and most powerful of the group, is my favourite. Covering enemies from the air with missile volleys is immensely satisfying.

Last but not least is the Ranger. The all-rounder is the counterpart to «Iron Man». If you want to feel like Tony Stark, then this is the class for you. The Javelins are the centrepiece of the game. Their design still inspires me to this day, as do the game's graphics. Aside from the same HDR issues I had seven years ago, the game still looks beautiful.

No wonder I put 20 hours into the game back then to play through it. Flying around and decimating enemies with the various combat suits, preferably together with friends, was great fun. Even back then, I was one of the few defenders of «Anthem». But even for me it was obvious that the game was unfinished and only held together by tape and hope.

A development full of stumbling blocks

The game was launched in a poor state despite being postponed by six months. Graphic errors, crashes, missions that were blocked and endless loading screens were the order of the day. The problems were more diverse than the gameplay. Therein lies the game's greatest weakness. Whilst it's great to fly around and fight in the Javelins, the missions and levels are always the same.

It mostly boils down to flying somewhere and flattening everything. The areas seem large at first, but as there are only a handful of them, you'll soon have seen them all. There is a story, but the fact that I can't remember a single character, let alone any event, speaks volumes. And that's from Bioware! The legendary studio to whom we owe the «Dragon Age» and «Mass Effect» series. Bioware was synonymous with gripping stories. There was none of that in «Anthem».

The really exciting story took place behind the scenes. In an extensive report in 2019, journalist Jason Schreier uncovered the problems at Bioware and publisher EA. Although the game had been in development for many years, the actual work only began 12 to 16 months before the launch. In other words, long after the E3 demo was shown in 2017. This was put together in a makeshift manner and was not based on an actual playable version.
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It's not uncommon for trailers and demos to be generously fudged. It also happens more often in the industry than you might think that a game only really comes together at the final spurt. In the case of «Anthem», however, the problems were too serious. EA's management under Patrick Söderlund made unrealistic demands. For financial reasons, the March deadline could no longer be changed. The Frostbite engine powering the game was a mess and the support team for it was completely reassigned to «FIFA». In addition, there were technical difficulties in getting the «Iron Man»-style suits to take off. The fact that the game was still released on 22 February is nothing short of a miracle.

In the comments on our launch livestream, some of you wrote that at least it wasn't as much of a disaster as Bethesda's «Fallout 76». That was released a few months earlier and was an even bigger total failure. Ironically, «Fallout 76» has since turned a corner, while we have to say goodbye to «Anthem» for good.

A planned 2.0 reboot, which was supposed to turn the game around, was cancelled by EA in 2021. The fact that the company is now making no effort to at least keep the game offline is a fitting, albeit sad, end to this chapter. Too bad, «Anthem» deserved better.

Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles. more

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