The anthem is coming to an end. When it was revealed, Electronic Arts was touting it as the next big thing in gaming. It was BioWare's post-Mass-Effect glow, a paradigm-shifting sci-fi shooter to bring players together in a world as well-realized and powerfully written as anything the developer has ever brought.
Not only did it never quite come to fruition, but BioWare was in for quite a rough patch regarding public perception both before its launch and certainly after. Anthem's story has been, in my view and that of many others, about as crippled by the creators' intentions to provide a live service as any of us could have predicted. Say what you want about that, but if there's one thing Anthem gets right, it's that “Iron Man” feel.
We're dangerously close to the last chance we'll ever have to experience top flight mechanics, so whether you've never given Anthem a chance or just want to be there for one last ride, consider this a public disclaimer: go play.
Everything ends
To be clear, we knew this was coming. Electronic Arts brought the news more than half a year ago. Since then, and I'm totally guessing here, but there have probably been hundreds – thousands! – from new players who have spun Anthem or twice. That's not exactly a huge bummer, but Anthem was basically canceled years ago. It's not like EA included it in the footnote parts of the general assembly.
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It's part of a generally nuanced interview discussion, though I certainly agree with Ms. White about the dangers.
Given the radio silence, Anthem's Jan. 12 end date likely won't come with any major shipping. Maybe not even small. Maybe there's an advertising opportunity in here somewhere for a quick PR note about how proud they are of the team, players and spectators like you. Damn if I know.
But yes. It's almost gone. A sunset, as tech companies like to say. Fly, Javelin and all, straight into the sun. There's a joke about BioWare being Icarus, but it's tacky, so don't repeat it – people worked hard on this game. Let's remember that.
And if you feel like it, go play Anthem. If you still can. You can't actually buy it anymore, but maybe you did before? Maybe you played it, did you enjoy it, did you enjoy it? Or he just picked it up when it was on sale at an absurdly low price, which happened often. Or you can try it for ten hours if you have PlayStation Plus. You do it. I personally won't bother, but if you want to go there and post some cool screenshots from that last ride, I might check them out. I will always have a special soft spot for this game.
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No.
