Digital Arts (EA) has determined to close down Bioware’s multiplayer motion recreation, Anthem, years after its underwhelming launch. The corporate introduced Thursday it could sundown the sport on January 12, 2026. Anthem will stay playable till it’s taken offline, however EA is halting gross sales of the sport’s in-game premium foreign money. Anthem, BioWare’s first dwell service title, launched on PC and consoles in 2019, however failed to draw a robust participant base.
EA to Shut Down Anthem
In an replace posted on its website, EA stated Anthem’s servers will stay on-line until January 12, 2026, after which the sport will not be playable. Gamers will not have the ability to log in and play for the reason that recreation is an online-only title.
“We’ve an necessary replace to share concerning Anthem. After cautious consideration, we will probably be sunsetting Anthem on January 12, 2026,” EA stated in its replace. “Which means that the sport will nonetheless be playable on-line for the following 180+ days. As of at present, you may not buy in-game premium foreign money, however you may nonetheless use your remaining steadiness till the servers go offline.”
Whereas Anthem can not be bought on digital storefronts, gamers who beforehand purchased the sport will have the ability to set up it from their digital libraries and play till the servers are on-line. Anthem will even be faraway from the EA Play playlist on August 15, 2025. EA additionally confirmed that shutting down Anthem wouldn’t lead to any layoffs at BioWare.
Anthem launched throughout PC, PS4 and Xbox One on February 22, 2019, and marked a departure from BioWare’s portfolio of single-player RPGs. The multiplayer title struggled to discover a constant participant base, earlier than BioWare stopped all future growth on the sport in 2021.
BioWare has since struggled to recapture its sturdy footing as a developer of acclaimed single-player franchises like Dragon Age and Mass Impact. The studio was hit with layoffs after Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell in need of EA’s sales expectations. The developer was reportedly downsized to lower than 100 staff after a number of members of workers had been laid off or relocated to different EA groups earlier this 12 months.
The studio is now engaged on the following Mass Impact title underneath the management of veterans from the unique trilogy, together with Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.