EA Will Shut Down Anthem in January

Anthem was released in February 2019 with mixed feedback, including our 6.5/10 rating that pointed out issues such as repetitive gameplay, lack of refinement, limited variety, and a poorly aligned narrative. As of December 2023, the game had sold 5 million copies, which did not meet EA's initial goal of 6 million in the first few months. Although EA continued to support and enhance Anthem following its release, active development on the title ceased in February 2021. The subsequent month saw the departure of its game director from the company.

In a FAQ, EA confirmed that no job cuts were made at the company due to Anthem's closure. This is reassuring, considering EA has experienced several large-scale staff reductions in recent years that have had significant impacts on employees.

In May, EA closed Cliffhanger Games and canceled its ongoing Black Panther project, resulting in an undisclosed number of employee layoffs. That same month, the company introduced a mandatory return-to-office policy for all staff.

Just one month prior, EA laid off approximately 300 individuals, and earlier this year, EA restructured BioWare, the developer behind Anthem, by moving some team members to other projects while laying others off. This occurred all within 2025. In the previous year, EA carried out a major restructuring that led to the layoff of 670 employees company-wide, and in 2023, 50 individuals were let go at BioWare with an unknown number of layoffs at Codemasters.

As for BioWare, it is now fully dedicated to Mass Effect 5 following the commercial underperformance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.