Anthem's Last Stand: Fans Keep the Fire Burning as EA Shuts the Door

Anthem's servers are dead, but fans are resurrecting it one private server at a time. Electronic Arts and BioWare terminated official servers for the 2019 looter-shooter on 12th January 2024, leaving no offline alternative.

Within days, community project Cenotaph and user And799 demonstrated a Anthem revival: their 17th January YouTube video showed two players connected in a lobby via private servers.

Ex-BioWare executive Mark Darrah hinted at a potential $10m revival plan, confirming "code for local servers" existed during his tenure. Meanwhile, Amazon's New World will follow suit, shutting down on 31st January 2024.

This escalating trend of online-only game closures raises urgent questions about preservation. Can community-led efforts like And799's "banger experiment" sustain titles EA deems "grindy" to maintain?