EA Just Proved Why Game Preservation Matters

Game preservation can be tricky, especially as older consoles become increasingly outmoded. However, advancements like largely digital marketplaces have impacted the industry in serious ways, especially when it comes to game ownership. In the modern era, certain games can be maintained on a console or PC for a while — or have their futures left at the whim of the publisher.

Take, for example, the fate of Anthem. Launched in 2019, the BioWare sci-fi RPG has struggled to earn the kind of consistent player base that Destiny developed, leading the publisher to shut down the servers and close off the game to players — even the ones who bought the title and may have wanted to continue playing it. EA’s decision might have been the end of Anthem, but details about the game’s final months have turned the oft-maligned title’s closure into an argument for the importance of consumers getting more of a say in the future of the games they play.

Anthem’s Closure Has Become A Rallying Cry For Game Preservation

Anthem‘s closure has been a big blow to long-time fans of the series, with the game servers going offline making the game unplayable after half a decade of expansive worldbuilding. Given the game’s nature as a permanently online title, this means even players who bought the game at launch can no longer activate it for solo or local play. According to game producer Mark Darrah, that wasn’t originally meant to be the case. At one point ahead of Anthem‘s closure, it was suggested internally that the game could transition into Anthem Next, which would have included established local servers so the game could continue to function for individual players.

According to Darrah, the game had actually possessed that capability during development, but the code was removed just a few months before launch. However, these plans fell through, and the game ended up shuttered once and for all without the ability to set up dedicated servers. This announcement has also led the Stop Killing Games movement to make Anthem something of a rallying cry. The initiative has argued that consumers deserve a bigger voice in determining the lifespan of a title, an argument that speaks to consumer rights bristling against the games industry’s desire to constantly engage players in active titles and services.

The movement argues that Anthem deserved those dedicated servers, which could have ensured players who enjoyed Anthem and bought into the game could have continued playing it until they decided they were done with it. As the movement posted to social media, “you put money into the game, you should have a voice on whether you get to keep it or not. You as the customer should have the final say as to when you’re done with a game, not the company.”

Anthem Fans Didn’t Deserve To Lose Their Game

Game preservation can be a thorny issue, especially when the matter of lapsed rights or corporate interests gets involved. It’s frustrating when any game becomes more or less unplayable, preventing the developers’ work from becoming more widespread and keeping gamers from discovering rewarding experiences. However, it’s been a different beast entirely in an age where gaming has become increasingly digital. Anthem isn’t like discontinued titles from older generations, which could still be found through auction or resale. Anyone who genuinely loved playing Anthem no longer has access to it, even though they paid for it.

It’s within EA’s rights to shut down the servers, but it’s also frustrating as a consumer to see the company do that. I wasn’t even an Anthem player, but I can imagine the frustration of fans who invested hundreds of hours into the world only to see their hard work rendered null and void at the flip of a switch. The desire to have evergreen games that continue to be successful in perpetuity has led plenty of studios to release live-service titles that theoretically could go on forever — or just as easily be shut down for good. The fact that the technology exists for games like Anthem to carry on without a constant connection to a central server hub makes it all the more frustrating, as the game could have gone offline, but players could have continued to explore it.

More than anything, the removal of access to Anthem at all means no new generations of players will discover it on sale and give it a try, potentially becoming fans or taking inspiration from it for their own ideas. It no longer has any chance to profit the company or earn money for the developers who worked on it. Gaming history, as with all artistic endeavors, evolves through shared access to past works. Games being made unavailable prevents the lessons of those titles from landing with new generations of players. EA and BioWare’s decision to shut down Anthem completely, despite the ability to give players their own space to play it, speaks plainly to the publisher’s apparent views on the importance of game ownership and preservation. Even players who weren’t fans of Anthem should be able to support the argument that players should have still been able to play the game they bought, even if the publisher was moving on to something different.

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