Anthem is on the verge of becoming permanently unplayable for one simple reason: the game was built from day one as an always-online experience. EA previously confirmed that the servers will be shut down on January 12, 2026, which means the game has roughly six full weeks of life left. Once that date arrives, the online-only shooter will no longer function in any form.

EA is no stranger to pulling the plug on its older releases. Games like Need for Speed Rivals can no longer be played online, and the publisher has been phasing out several legacy titles for years. Early last year, EA announced that Anthem – BioWare’s controversial co-op sci-fi project – would suffer the same fate. Now that 2025 is almost over and the new year is just around the corner, the game’s destiny is sealed: it only has a few short weeks remaining.

This is why the news still hits hard for some fans. Despite its many flaws and shortcomings, some players genuinely appreciated what Anthem did well. After the shutdown announcement, a portion of the community even called on EA to find some way to save the game instead of letting it vanish completely.

Anthem Doesn’t Have Much Time Left

On July 3, EA published an official update about the future of Anthem. In that statement, the publisher made it clear that the game’s servers will be taken offline on January 12, 2026. Because Anthem is an always-online title, this effectively means it will stop working altogether once the shutdown date arrives.

In practice, BioWare’s sci-fi shooter has just over six full weeks left before its “official death.” EA’s message suggests that players who already own Anthem will still see it listed in their digital libraries, but they will not be able to launch it. By comparison, Ubisoft went even further with The Crew last year, removing access entirely when it pulled the plug on that game’s servers, which sparked enormous backlash.

The people who will feel this decision the most are those who stuck with Anthem through all its problems. For these loyal players, the shutdown means there will be nothing concrete left to show for the many hours spent exploring BioWare’s ambitious sci-fi world, beyond a few memories and old screenshots.

Anthem Is Headed For Oblivion

For anyone still hoping that Anthem might somehow survive, there is at least a faint glimmer of hope. Fans have already proven they can work miracles: in the case of The Crew, community-driven solutions managed to bring the game back in some form after the official servers went dark. In theory, a similar fan-made workaround could give Anthem a second life, even without EA’s blessing.

For the vast majority of players, though, the reality is much harsher. Anthem is about to join the growing list of titles that have effectively been erased by shut-down servers and disabled online services. Starting next month, the game will, for most people, be nothing more than another name swallowed up by the void of lost live-service releases.

Source: tech4gamer