A game that was buried under its own hype and then abandoned by its publisher might still have a pulse, if not a heartbeat. Anthem, the live-service shooter from BioWare that arrived in 2019 with a fanfare that outstripped its substance, has defied expectations once more—this time without the backing of Electronic Arts.
While EA’s official servers for Anthem were shut down last year, a small team of independent developers has begun exploring whether the game can be played locally. The effort is still in its infancy, but it represents a rare instance where a major title, long thought dead, could be revived by its community rather than its original creators.
The possibility hinges on a claim made by Mark Darrah, Anthem’s former executive producer, who stated that the game was designed with local server functionality—a feature that remained in place until shortly before launch. If true, it suggests that the technical foundation for an independent revival exists, though extracting and stabilizing that code remains a significant challenge.
Recent progress has been made by a developer known as And799, who shared a demonstration showing two player accounts interacting within Anthem without relying on EA’s infrastructure. The footage is raw—a proof of concept rather than a playable experience—but it signals that the underlying systems are at least partially intact. However, experts caution that this is only the beginning. The work ahead involves reconstructing networking layers, balancing game logic, and addressing potential legal obstacles from EA.
Even if successful, the revival would not bring back Anthem in its original form. The game’s flaws—its janky mechanics, underwhelming content, and poor launch strategy—are unlikely to disappear with a server reset. Yet for the dedicated players who still engage with the game, the prospect of continued access is enough to keep efforts alive.
This isn’t the first time a community has attempted to revive a dead title, but Anthem’s size and complexity make it a notable case. Whether it will stand as a cautionary tale about live-service gaming or a testament to persistence remains to be seen. For now, the lights may flicker, but they haven’t gone out.
