Anthem shutdown prompts fans to share their love and regrets

Anthem is no more. As Monday Jan. 12 draws to a close, the servers for BioWare’s ill-fated loot-shooter will shut off, rendering the game unplayable seven years after it launched, and five years after BioWare and EA cancelled plans for its redesign, Anthem Next.

With Anthem’s demise looming, many players returned to the game over the past few days and weeks before it was no longer accessible. Some had been heavily invested in Anthem from the start, while others tried out their $2.39 purchase for the first time.

Whether they had played it for one hour or 100, Anthem’s subreddit was flooded with farewell posts. “Why do I feel sad when I haven’t played this game in years,” one player pondered. Others thanked the community and bemoaned that Anthem wasn’t given a fair shake. “It was an honor being a part of this games [sic] community,” one said. “This is such a shame. I will miss this game tremendously,” another added, echoing the thoughts of the larger Anthem community. It wasn’t all sad, though — one player started a fashion show on Reddit where players shared screenshots of their Javelins, showing off just how damn cool this game looked (and especially its Mass Effect-inspired cosmetics).

Though fans lamented the loss of Anthem, there was some recognition that the game had its flaws. One popular post on the game’s subreddit was a meme calling out Anthem’s poor user review scores while lamenting that it wasn’t given a chance to improve. “It’s a game that was left in a state where it is obvious how good it could have been with a little more work, and that’s why it’s worse – it’s close enough to being good that we are left to lament what could have been,” one player explained. “Pure unrealized potential.”

With the clock ticking, completionists raced to earn any lingering trophies on their way to the platinum. Sharing screenshots and gifs of feats was a popular trend, with one calling earning their platinum a “bittersweet feeling.”

“I missed this game, and will miss it even more. I feel ashamed, I feel sad, but I feel so much better that I pushed for this platinum,” they wrote. Some of Anthem’s trophies leaned heavy on the collectathon aspect of the game, like the No Stone Unturned trophy, which put players in more of a grind than they may have expected. “I wasn’t sure if I’d make it. Sooo many collectibles,” one player said while sharing their platinum trophy. “I didn’t have nearly as many hours as I know a lot of others did, but man, I’m gonna miss this game so much.”

Image: BioWare/EA

My time with Anthem was unfortunately a lonesome experience. After checking out the game for the first time with only weeks to go before the shutdown, I found a game that had the bones of something great. Before every mission, I waited in public lobbies, hoping the game would match me with other players. Mostly, the missions launched as solo endeavors for my Javelin to fly alone. The few times I did play with someone else were rewarding, though fleeting, and showcased Anthem’s strengths as a multiplayer game.

On the day of its shutdown, I tried to get a few last flights in. After connecting to Anthem’s servers, the game repeatedly crashed, preventing me from enjoying a last hurrah — I did not have the time to dig into the program files and figure out what was wrong. Now, it’s too late.

Photo: Polygon

The Anthem shutdown got me thinking about all the physical copies out in the wild. In Dec. 2025, with a month left for the game, I found a handful of PlayStation 4 copies for sale at a local store between $5 and $9. Did the employees know the game was about to become unplayable? What about the customers who might buy them and consign Anthem to their backlogs, not knowing that the game has been sunset?

At the very least, anyone who owns Anthem on disc, whether they had the chance to play it or not, will own a memento of BioWare’s past. Those discs will be relics from a turbulent time for the developer, whose future is up in the air now that the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is leading a purchase of EA, BioWare’s parent company. After a string of misses, Anthem chief among them, BioWare may face the same fate as its failed live-service experiment. The studio’s future is still uncertain at this time. What is certain is that Anthem is no more.