BioWare's Anthem loot shooter was shut down on January 12, 2026, but fans have quickly revived it on private servers. YouTuber And799 demonstrated the game running locally with two players, though some online features remain broken. Meanwhile, former BioWare producer Mark Darrah defended the studio's decision to develop the game in a recent interview.
The shutdown of Anthem's official servers on January 12, 2026, marked the end of BioWare's ambitious live-service looter shooter, which struggled during its lifecycle. Just days later, on January 20, fans began exploring ways to preserve the game. YouTuber And799 shared a video showing Anthem operating on a peer-to-peer (P2P) private server. In the footage, two players could join the same matchmaking space, though features like online profiles did not function. And799 described the effort as "research" and an "experiment," emphasizing it does not signal a full revival.
This fan initiative highlights ongoing concerns about game preservation after paid titles go offline. As the article notes, even if Anthem divided players and strained BioWare, it should not vanish entirely, given the resources invested by developers and purchases by fans. Efforts may eventually restore the unfinished campaign, but recreating the full online experience remains uncertain.
In a separate development, ex-BioWare producer Mark Darrah addressed criticisms of Anthem in an interview with YouTuber Destin Legarie, published the same day. Darrah rejected the idea that BioWare strayed too far from its RPG roots under EA's influence. "My feeling is that BioWare has always been changing," he said. He compared Anthem to past shifts, like moving from 2D RPGs to Neverwinter Nights or from tactical to action RPGs in Mass Effect. "Was Anthem too big of a reach? Yeah, for sure. But could you tell at the time? I don’t know."
Anthem's failure contributed to BioWare's downsizing last year following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's launch. The studio's remaining team is now focused on the next Mass Effect, with a tease shared on N7 Day but silence around Dragon Age's fan event in December. These events underscore BioWare's turbulent decade and the risks of studio evolution in the industry.