A fan-led project to resurrect the shuttered Anthem game has shown early promise but encounters significant technical challenges. Volunteers are working to emulate EA's servers using the game's Frostbite engine, though differences in its implementation complicate efforts. Project leaders urge caution despite a recent proof-of-concept video.
On January 12, Electronic Arts shut down the official servers for Anthem, Bioware's multiplayer sci-fi game, rendering it unplayable for the first time since its troubled 2019 launch. However, a community initiative called The Fort’s Forge, based on a Discord server, has emerged to revive it without EA's infrastructure.
The project began in July out of frustration with EA and Bioware's decision, led by administrator Laurie, who has experience from the Gundam Evolution revival. Key contributor Ness199X, a Frostbite engine expert, joined to preserve the game, despite not playing it much before the shutdown. In September, Ness released a packet logger tool allowing players to record network traffic, aiding reverse-engineering and potential character recovery.
Analysis of crowdsourced data revealed Anthem's reliance on three services: EA’s Blaze for authentication, Bioware Online Services (BIGS) for player data like inventory and quests, and the Frostbite multiplayer engine for level loading and real-time tracking. A proof-of-concept video last week, shared by Andersson799—a veteran Frostbite tinkerer since 2015—demonstrated partial loading using emulated Blaze and BIGS servers from packet captures. "I basically made the tool to just simply reply with the packet captures that I got," Andersson said, noting it loaded player profiles.
Yet, the Frostbite engine poses the biggest obstacle. "Due to how Frostbite is designed, all gameplay in a Frostbite game runs in a ‘server’ context," Ness explained, even in single-player modes. Anthem's heavy dependence on online data hinders level loading without servers, though local data for areas like Fort Tarsis offers hope. The team believes patching the client could enable in-process hosting of levels, as the logic exists locally.
Unpredictable behaviors, such as inconsistent NPC spawning, highlight Anthem's deviations from standard Frostbite games, possibly tied to its RPG elements. Ness estimates 75% confidence in success, potentially yielding a playable version in months, but warns of exponential effort if barriers persist. "I’m fairly confident that we can get this game to be playable again... It’ll just take time," Andersson added.
Laurie is tempering excitement: "People are getting excited [about the video], and naturally people are going to get their hopes up." The Discord paused new memberships amid attention, focusing on a small team before expanding. No frequent updates are expected, as the video was an unplanned, rough demo.
