Could Anthem Be Revived with Self-Hosted Servers? Insights from Former Producer

BioWare's multiplayer shooter, Anthem, has been officially discontinued as EA has chosen to cease maintaining its servers, rendering the game unplayable. However, Mark Darrah, the former executive producer of Anthem, disclosed that there was technology developed by BioWare prior to the game's launch that could enable players to host their own servers.

During a lengthy video titled "The Truth About What Happened on Anthem", Darrah, who departed from BioWare in December 2020, shared insights about the game’s development. He stated, "Anthem actually had the code for local servers running in a dev environment right up until a few months up to launch. I don't know that they still work but the code is there to be salvaged and recovered." This revelation opens up potential avenues for revitalizing Anthem.

Darrah proposed a more radical idea: to rework Anthem into a single-player experience, completely removing the multiplayer aspect. He described a three-step plan requiring an estimated budget of around $10 million, starting with an upgrade to current-generation consoles, enhancing graphical fidelity, and ensuring a smooth frame rate.

"Pivot to something that's more about single-player storytelling"

The next step would involve enabling local servers to eliminate EA's server requirements. Finally, Darrah envisioned focusing on single-player storytelling, replacing player groups with AI companions, similar to those found in other BioWare titles. He indicated this could involve introducing a few new characters designed to accompany players through the existing narrative of Anthem.

Darrah expressed optimism about the potential to craft a game that would resonate with BioWare fans who may have bypassed Anthem due to its looter-shooter mechanics. He remarked, "What you've essentially re-engineered is a BioWare game," suggesting that the revamped title could deliver a rich narrative experience with AI companions.

Nonetheless, Darrah acknowledged that EA is unlikely to pursue this direction. His thorough video reflects on Anthem’s tumultuous development journey, originating around 2011, and emphasizes the lack of a cohesive vision throughout the project, which ultimately impacted the final product.