Anthem’s demo launch has caused EA server outages across multiple games

Posted on January 26, 2019

Anthem’s demo has become available to play in the early stretches of the morning. Those who pre-purchased the game were granted access and they were also given additional codes to get their squad in on the fun. On top of this, yet more codes were given out to fans just prior to the demo launch. Unfortunately the demo launch didn’t go smoothly. As thousands of gamers tried to access the game, EA’s servers couldn’t keep up. Even as I write this, multiple gamers still aren’t able to access the limited demo.

Now server issues certainly aren’t a new problem for newly released online games. Although what makes this particular case so frustrating for fans is the fact that it isn’t only impacting Anthem players. Multiple games hosted on EA’s servers are all struggling under the weight of Anthem players including games like Battlefield and FIFA.

Since the demo launched some users have gained access to the game as anticipated. Many more however are getting limited to no access to the demo. There’s also no timeline for a solution to this problem, as EA appears to continue to struggle under the ovewhelming influx of players. Many gamers are frustrated because EA and developer Bioware should know how many demo keys were given out, and therefore should have been able to anticipate how powerful their servers would need to be. It’s an issue that should have never existed, particularly because EA seemed to be giving out keys to the beta quite liberally.

The fact that Anthem players are impacting the play time of Battlefield, FIFA, and Battlefront players, amongst others, is just downright bizarre. Hopefully players will be given some kind compensation for all of the issues they are facing, such as an extension to the demo time.