EA rushes to add more server capacity for Anthem’s overloaded VIP demo

Anthem’s VIP demo is live today, and everything is just fine! Well, maybe not. BioWare maybe doesn’t have quite enough servers for the massive influx of players diving in, meaning a lot of gamers are running into capacity problems and errors.

Fortunately, EA says it’s working on the problem. (Which it could not possibly have anticipated since it’s never, ever, ever run an online video game thingy before.)

We're adding more server capacity to the #Anthem demo right now. Hang tight while we work to get everyone into the game.

— EA Help (@EAHelp) January 25, 2019

Popularity is certainly among the better problems for an MMO to have, anyway.

Surprisingly, the Anthem Reddit right now is rather positive – and making copious use of spoilers/no spoilers tags to make sure nobody’s story is being ruined outright.

Let us know if you’re playing, would ya?

Here’s a recap of all our Anthem coverage to date!

E3 2017: EA BioWare reveals Anthem, a shared-world Destiny clone

E3 2017: Former SWTOR writer Drew Karpyshyn is working on Anthem

Anthem is the start of a ’10-year journey’ for EA and BioWare

Anthem compares itself to Star Wars and Marvel movies

BioWare’s Anthem’s fourth pillar is obviously corn

Anthem lead gameplay designer Corey Gaspur passes away

BioWare confirms eventual beta for Anthem, advises patience

BioWare’s Anthem may have a virtual reality mode

BioWare shifts resources to Anthem and debates SWTOR’s future

EA pushes BioWare’s Anthem to 2019 but denies that it’s a delay

Former SWTOR creative director and key writers form up under new studio FogBank

Another writer allegedly leaves BioWare – what on earth is going on with Anthem?

BioWare: Anthem will be ‘unlike anything you’ve played’

EA quarterly financials: Anthem due March 2019, record profits, and lockbox-gambling denialism

BioWare’s Anthem will let you be ‘the hero of your story’ even in multiplayer

EA hypes Anthem trailer and combat ahead of its pre-E3 EA Play show

E3 2018: BioWare’s Anthem has soloable co-op open world, no lockboxes, a sweet trailer, and a February 22 launch

BioWare: ‘Anthem is unlike anything we’ve ever done’

Check out the full E3 demo for BioWare’s Anthem

EA adds new Origin Access premier membership that includes Anthem head start

BioWare explains more about Anthem’s split between MMO and single-player portions

Anthem’s beta is admittedly a demo, according to BioWare

PAX West 2018: Anthem’s trailer touts ‘real-time storytelling’ content

PAX West 2018: Anthem shuns content paywalls, lockboxes while embracing ‘reactive storytelling’

The Soapbox: I have a bad feeling about Anthem

BioWare says ‘every part of [Anthem] is in and functioning’

Anthem will have matchmaking for raids but no loot trading

Anthem’s PGW stream and Q&A covers the Storm, pets, and soloable world events

Anthem unveils its javelins’ ultimate abilities

Anthem previews character customization in latest developer livestream

BioWare swears that Anthem is happening in February

BioWare’s Casey Hudson discusses Anthem development progress

BioWare touts Anthem’s story, drops Game Awards trailer

Anthem doesn’t need whales to succeed, says BioWare’s Mike Gamble

Anthem player learns why you don’t break NDAs. Or why you don’t use Origin. It’s one of those.

Anthem tries to sell you on slick skins and inspirational speeches

Anthem starts its demos on January 25

Anthem shows off a full mission in a new video

Anthem shows off the gameplay of its speedy Javelin, the Interceptor

Anthem promises matchmaking for all of its content

Check out another 10 minutes of gameplay footage from Anthem

Global Chat: The big question mark of Anthem

Anthem’s demo debuts on Friday, so do your homework now

Anthem is just under a month away from official launch, but weekend VIP demo downloading has begun

EA rushes to add more server capacity for Anthem’s overloaded VIP demo

Anthem addresses ‘rocky’ demo launch, server capacity, ongoing issues, and compensation

Anthem recaps lessons learned from VIP demo in preparation for next weekend’s public demo

Anthem outlines future plans and preps more server capacity ahead of tomorrow’s public demo

Anthem explains its Alliance and Guild systems following its second demo, with hints about something more in the sky

Anthem players rack up 40 million hours while BioWare preps launch

EA is focusing on Anthem and Apex Legends following disappointing quarter

Anthem previews its post-launch plans as release day approaches

Anthem teases cataclysms and answers fan questions in latest AMAAAA

Global Chat: Anthem makes first contact with gamers

Anthem’s live-action video Conviction is serious business

Anthem’s early access launch is already suffering from connection issues

Check out Anthem’s day-one patch notes as BioWare puts an end to gear farm cheesing

Anthem’s day one patch nukes infinite loading screen and adds loot to bosses

Hyperspace Beacon: The Star Wars MMOs and communities beyond SWTOR

Leaderboard: What’s your biggest beef with Anthem?

Diablo III developer offers feedback on Anthem’s reward structure

Amazon UK is dispatching discount coupons for Anthem

First impressions of BioWare’s Anthem, a flawed piece of work with good bones

Anthem unveils loot changes to improve gearing

Global Chat: Off-the-cuff impressions of Anthem

Having Anthem trouble on your PS4? Sony might be granting refunds

BioWare doesn’t think Anthem’s ‘loot is lame’ – it’s fixing damage scaling bugs next week

Anthem players are up in arms over this weekend’s loot nerf

Anthem has more loot changes planned, including significant changes in the next few months

BioWare patches Anthem to buff loot quality at higher difficulties

Not So Massively: Welcoming a new era of online games and gaming

BioWare discusses Anthem post-launch: ‘This is all a learning experience for us’

MMO Business Roundup: Lucasfilm Games, Anthem sales, MapleStory Fest, and Oculus

Anthem promises more loot changes and no more Forge loading screen in next week’s update

Anthem misses the mark again: No armor loot in Elysian Stronghold caches

Anthem’s loot-system struggle continues as update brings legendary missions

Kotaku’s Anthem exposé unmasks a studio in ‘crisis’ – and BioWare’s response is alarming

QC Games says it’s ‘winding down internal operations on Breach’

BioWare internal memo vows to address studio disarray, says Kotaku’s Anthem exposé was ‘traumatizing’

Hyperspace Beacon: I wasn’t going to talk about Anthem, but I think I should

Anthem’s latest update fixes bugs and not a whole lot else

Massively OP Podcast Episode 215: Anthem exposed

Not So Massively: Five things I love about Anthem

Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts thinks that Anthem is worth saving

Anthem takes us to a ‘sunken’ city and allows gear changes mid-mission in today’s update 1.1.0

BioWare delays several Anthem ‘Act 1’ features including guilds and masteries

Another crunch-ridden game studio exposed: This time it’s Fortnite’s Epic Games

Not So Massively: Yearning for an MMO future free of loot

Matchmaking problems plague Anthem as its playerbase dwindles

Anthem appears to have lost several prominent upper staff members

BioWare swears it’s still working on Anthem following key staff departures

EA sees quarterly and yearly revenue dropoffs, plans to port Apex Legends to mobile

Anthem intentionally removes special loot chests and accidentally removes boss loot drops

Anthem releases update 1.2.0 – without loot changes – and plans PTS for Cataclysm

Anthem’s Cataclysm test server is now live for PC players

E3 2019: Anthem is going to let you assemble groups from guild rosters

Not So Massively: Cataclysm looks cool, but it’s not what Anthem needs right now

Anthem’s Reddit cracks down on ‘aimless’ criticism

EA CEO on Anthem: ‘I feel like that team is really going to get there with something special and something great’

Star Trek Online rescinds plan to use controversial audio emote in summer festival

Anthem begins testing Cataclysm changes, but players aren’t satisfied

Anthem’s Cataclysm PTS testing may be yielding some improvements to the shooter

No Man’s Sky boss on why placating players with prattle rather than proof doesn’t work

Anthem players get excited for Cataclysm precursor event that turns out to be a bug

Anthem’s finally pushed out pre-Cataclysm challenges – hope ya like smashing crystals

Anthem just stealth-launched the massive Cataclysm update today

Not So Massively: Anthem’s Cataclysm is actually a good ride

Anthem and BioWare lose lead producer Ben Irving

Choose My Adventure: Anthem kept crashing, so here’s what happened in Destiny 2

Anthem’s patch 1.40 brings freeplay changes, returned loot, and a hint toward Cataclysm’s ending

Casey Hudson says BioWare still has a ‘big team working on Anthem’

Anthem is added to the list of free games for EA Access subscribers

Anthem launches Cataclysm’s final week, abandons Acts structure for future updates

Anthem leaves Cataclysm content in the game until the next seasonal update

Early access pirate MMO Atlas is launching on Xbox One next week – with PC crossplay

Anthem’s latest update brings a new Cataclysm and the Season of Skulls

The second week of Anthem’s Season of Skulls starts up today

EA is bringing an unspecified number of games back to Steam along with the EA Access plan

Anthem loses yet another lead developer as BioWare’s head of live service departs

Fight or Kite: PvP games to play if you’re still boycotting Blizzard

Anthem commemorates N7 Day with some gorgeous Mass Effect-style Javelin skins

Anthem previews Icetide’s Javelin racing and a time attack mode for Tyrant Mine

Rumor: A complete overhaul is in the works for Anthem

The last week of Anthem’s Season of Skulls has arrived

BioWare’s former general manager discusses the performance and limitations of the Frostbite engine

Massively OP Podcast Episode 247: Shopping for MMO guilds

Anthem rings in the holiday season with the arrival of Icetide

Not So Massively: A wishlist for MMO-adjacent online games in 2020

Leaderboard: Are you onboard with the online gaming industry’s new take on sequels?

Anthem offers a look at updates for week five of Icetide and additional lore stories

Anthem extends the Icetide Season and fixes bugs in its latest update

Anthem’s weekly updates stay thin as the launch anniversary approaches

Anthem abandons seasonal content as BioWare confirms major redesign and reinvention

MMO Business Roundup: Tim Sweeney’s politics gaffe, Nexon’s Q4 2019, and the old BioWare crew

Anthem marks its anniversary by handing out free Javelin vinyls

Anthem’s Regulator Shop will now let players buy Legendary items

EA Play Live is scheduled for June 11

BioWare Austin’s studio director confirms Anthem reboot will be more transparent and ‘a longer process’

Torchlight III’s surprise early access launch was tormented by server issues and poor reviews

Concept art pieces for the Anthem reboot show off new locations and classically-styled pirates

Anthem discusses the design goals for getting loot and gearing up in the rebooted version of the shooter

Into the Super-verse: Marvel’s Avengers feels like Marvel Heroes by way of Destiny

Anthem offers a look at Javelin skill trees, build customization, and Artifacts in a dev blog

BioWare loses GM Casey Hudson and Exec Producer Mark Darrah

Former Anthem studio director Christian Dailey promises ‘talented’ leadership is still in place

Not So Massively: Looking back at 2020 and ahead to 2021 in the realm of not-so-massively games

Posting record 2020 revenues, EA recommits to the Star Wars franchise that made it $3B

Rumor: EA is debating the future of the beleaguered Anthem Next

BioWare is halting development on Anthem Next, but Anthem itself will stay up

Sorry kids, Dragon Age 4 is cutting multiplayer after years of troubled development

Global Chat: Grieving over Anthem’s demise

Not So Massively: A eulogy for Anthem and Defiance

Massively OP Podcast Episode 311: The day the MMOs died

SWTOR’s update 6.2.1 is finally live with updates for conquests, amplifiers, and uprisings

Vague Patch Notes: MMO sunsets and the myth of meritocracy

Global Chat: What can fill that ‘new MMO’ void?

Star Wars The Old Republic announces The Dark Descent update with new flashpoint and ‘galactic seasons’

Former Anthem director Jonathan Warner ejects from BioWare

The Soapbox: If you want innovation in MMOs, stop worshiping polish

BioWare promotes Gary McKay to studio boss after tumultuous year

Former BioWare GM Casey Hudson announces the opening of a new development studio

Not So Massively: Magic Legends had all the right ideas and all the wrong choices

BioWare boss talks up SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith, new remote hiring policy

Nightingale was originally an MMO but scaled back to become more intimate

First Impressions: Babylon’s Fall is an unpolished and underwhelming collection of almost good ideas

Classic Tibia is getting sound for the first time in 25 years

Blade & Soul takes a closer look at the Musician class arriving later this week

NCsoft showcases gameplay and early details of its new shooter MMO Project LLL

The Stream Team: Backseat Streaming steps back into the mech suits of Anthem

The Stream Team: Returning to Anthem

NetEase announces another new MMO studio: Rich Vogel’s T-Minus Zero Entertainment

Vitae Aeternum: Rise of the Angry Earth mounts and flail are the lift New World needed

BioWare’s Anthem sold 5M lifetime copies, according to leaked stats

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