Anthem is dead after the game’s shutdown, but it doesn’t have to be — lead dev reveals code for private servers exists, “there to be salvaged and recovered”

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Electronic Arts officially shut down Anthem, their 2019 action game, earlier this week. Players could customize and pilot powerful, armored suits called “Javelins” while exploring an alien world. As of January 12th, the game is no longer available on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation because the servers have been permanently closed.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Anthem, especially because it was created by the developers of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. While the game looked beautiful and the suits were fun to fly in, it quickly became unpopular after release. Players were disappointed by technical problems, a weak story, uninteresting rewards, and repetitive, frustrating gameplay.

Following the cancellation of Anthem Next – a major planned update intended to revive the game – BioWare focused its resources on Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the next Mass Effect title. This effectively ended Anthem’s life, and its servers have now been shut down. However, just because the game is currently unavailable doesn’t necessarily mean it will remain that way forever.

Towards the end of a detailed, nearly four-hour video discussing the issues with Anthem, former BioWare producer Mark Darrah shared that the game actually had code for both local multiplayer and private servers built in. This functionality remained in the game until a few months before it launched, and he suggests it could still be recovered from the existing code.

According to Darrah, the team working on Anthem had functional code for local servers running in a test environment until just a few months before the game launched. He isn’t sure if it still works, but the code exists and could potentially be recovered.

This hints at the possibility, though it might be unlikely, of fans being able to create their own private servers for Anthem using their computers. It also connects to an exciting vision Darrah has for the game’s future: turning it into a story-focused experience more in line with classic BioWare games.

The proposed plan, costing around $10 million, aims to improve the game’s performance to 60 frames per second on modern consoles and enhance its graphics and settings on PC. After this, the game would move to privately hosted servers, and the developers would shift focus towards creating a more story-driven, single-player experience.

Darrah proposes that if players are without human teammates, they could be joined by AI allies. And, true to BioWare’s style, he suggests developing these AI characters into full companions with unique personalities and backstories. He believes this would essentially transform Anthem into a game more like other BioWare titles.

You know, what’s really interesting about this is that it feels like they’ve rebuilt a BioWare game – think a solid story and companions – but without the romance options. And the best part? It’s fully playable as a single-player experience! Honestly, with a relatively small amount of extra work, they could essentially create an entirely new single-player game using what they already have. It’s a really clever way to leverage existing assets.

The chances of something like this really happening are extremely slim. Darrah believes EA won’t do it, and that seems likely. EA appears keen to move past the difficulties with Anthem, so it’s hard to see them investing in or supporting a project like this.

It’s somewhat more likely that the company will officially release the code to allow players to host their own private servers – if it even still functions. However, it’s not very probable. Even if they don’t, dedicated fans might create it themselves eventually. We’ve already seen this happen with games like Star Wars: Battlefront II (with the KYBER mod) and Titanfall 2 (with the Northstar mod), both of which are published by EA.

Would you play Anthem if it had local or private server options? If you’ve played Anthem before, what were your thoughts on the game? Share your opinions in the comments below!

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2026-01-15 23:10