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Stuff.tv
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
15 of the best action RPGs of all time
From Jade Empire to Cyberpunk 2077, the very best action role-playing games (RPGs) feature a masterful blend of satisfying real-time combat, memorable characters, a rich narrative, and deep, rewarding progression whether you play on console or elsewhere. These games will leave your digits sweating as you battle against legendarily epic bosses, deploy your silver tongue in fiendish dialogue skill checks and stomach some tough moral choices. However, bountiful treasures await those who have crafted an adept character build and honed their reflexes, abilities and decision-making to surgical precision. One of the greatest sci-fi RPGs, System Shock 2, hits its 25th anniversary this month, and with the long-awaited remaster nearly at our doors, we're celebrating by listing our 15 best action RPGs of all time. So pick your D4s off the floor, unsheathe your short swords and refill your mana as we explore these unmissable titles. Jade Empire (2005) Play Developer BioWare could do no wrong during the noughties, churning out hit after hit with universally lauded titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age: Origins. Jade Empire was also part of that hot streak — a brand new IP based on ancient Chinese history, featuring mythological beasts and spirits. Central to the gameplay were moral choices — do you help the struggling locals or leave them to fend for themselves while hoovering up power and riches? The combat system incorporates a huge number of fighting styles, from bare fisticuffs to Wolverine-style blades and even ungodly animal transformations. All this is set against a story of intrigue, betrayal, vengeance and a little romance, and with three different endings, you get to decide the fate of the Jade Empire. Any chance of a remaster, BioWare? Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) Play As V, a resident of the brutal Night City, you want to make a name for yourself by doing jobs for fixers, corporate clients, deadly gangs and mysterious AIs. How you go about them is up to you, whether hacking security, sneaking in, talking your way to your objective or going in all guns blazing. At your disposal is an arsenal of hardware and a blisteringly fierce range of body mods, from arm-mounted blades, hacking cybersuites, and time-slowing neural chips. Caught in a murder plot and on the run, with the digital soul of Keanu Reeves' Johnny Silverhand stamped into your psyche, you've got to figure out who to work for and who to trust in this futuristic world full of backstabbing, cyberwarfare and corporate espionage. Cyberpunk 2077 is full of nods to classic sci-fi, with side quests that always enrapture and storylines that'll have you digging deep into your own moral code. Oh, and don't sleep on its unmissable expansion, Phantom Liberty, which delivers some of the best post-game content in years. The Outer Worlds (2019) Play Fallout fans looking for another foray into a left-field sci-fi universe could do a lot worse than taking a trip to The Outer Worlds. Evoking a new frontier for the Halcyon system's planets that have been taken over by various corporations, the game is a mish-mash of sci-fi opera Firefly and the corporate bureaucracy and humour of Office Space. After a space rescue that sees your lifepod crashing down on your rescuer, you become captain of the ship The Unreliable, tasked by an eccentric scientist to save the colony from extinction. This quest takes you across several planets and has you in the crosshairs of multiple alien and human threats. The combat isn't quite as tight as other gun-based RPGs, but the moral choices, irreverent humour and multilayered gameplay serve as a colourful and enjoyable romp through a new star system. Black Myth: Wukong (2024) Play Many gamers initially dismissed Black Myth: Wukong as merely a Soulsborne clone, but it's much more of a linear action RPG experience. Based on the ancient Chinese novel, Journey to the West, you play the Destined One, a staff-wielding simian on a quest to retrieve six mysterious relics to revive the mischievous spirit of the Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King. Along your odyssey, you'll meet many imposing foes who love nothing more than a good scrap. Thankfully, your shape-shifting staff lets you utilise different fighting stances, while a well-timed dodge or flurry of light attacks nets you focus points, which you can build to unleash heavier attacks. Along the way, you'll also learn magic to help you eliminate foes, casting spells like binding enemies to get in some crafty hits or transforming into a flaming wolf to inflict severe burn damage. The enemy design and animations keep things riveting, while duels occur in gorgeously detailed backdrops. It might not have the combat depth or awe-inspiring exploration of Elden Ring, but it represents a more accessible action adventure with plenty of grandiose boss encounters that'll leave your screen shaking. Hades (2020) Play Despite the permanently warm climate and pantheon of hot gods to rub shoulders with, the Underworld isn't for everyone, so we can hardly blame hero Zagreus for wanting to hightail it to the mortal realm to find his birth mother. This isometric roguelike has you donning the flamed laurels of the son of Hades as he battles with the unholy forces of the dead. You'll inevitably die, many times, of course, and resurrect to the sardonic quips of your father. However, during combat, you can use boons bestowed upon you by deities like Poseidon and Artemis to boost your powers and gain special abilities. You also need to think tactically by choosing reward paths and whether to go for bonuses that'll benefit you for this run or subsequent encounters. Hades' blend of frenetic combat, original narrative and sizzling hot voice acting and music make this game addictive as Hell (I'll get my coat). Mass Effect 2 (2010) Play The first of Mass Effect's phenomenal sci-fi series has Shepard barely surviving their first tussle with the galaxy-ending threat of the Reapers, so it's a real bombshell when the sequel kills off the intrepid commander in the first 15 minutes. However, a mumbo jumbo amount of sci-fi babble later, and Shepard is resurrected, now tasked with investigating disappearing colonists while recruiting a crack team of scientists, soldiers and enhanced biotic warriors. ME2 expands on the original's roster of truly unforgettable characters you had to gain the loyalty of, including fan favourites like assassin Thane, genetically enhanced Miranda and motor-mouthed geneticist Mordin Solus. And if you're not humming (I Am the Very Model of A) Scientist Salarian right now, you're dead inside. The cover-based combat feels polished and tight, while the character classes offer a lot of nuance and replayability. The RPG elements may feel light compared to others, but seeing how your choices affect not only beloved characters but entire civilisations feels like the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) Play The Witcher's TV adaptation may have transformed Geralt of Rivia into a household name, but the White Wolf's third adventure provided the springboard. Set in a fantasy world based on Slavic folklore and inhabited by vampires, ghosts, elementals and a monstrous menagerie of hell beasts, the Witcher 3 follows Geralt as a magically-enhanced hunter, roving the land for monsters to fell for the right price. When his adopted daughter, Ciri, goes missing, with rumours that she's being stalked by the mysterious Wild Hunt, the witcher travels across the Continent in search. With several tomes of lore, it can take some time to get to grips with the Witcher's world, but players can find an engrossing and immersive experience with some of the best and most unpredictable side quests written for an RPG. The open world map is also huge and breathtaking to explore, so taking your noble steed Roach for a gallop always feels invigorating. And for those weary from riding and fighting, you can get lost in a friendly game of Gwent. Fallout: New Vegas (2010) Play Though Fallout 4 remains the more technically advanced title, legions of players count New Vegas as the best irradiated wasteland experience due to its superior storyline. Players control The Courier, who starts the game left for dead with a bullet in the brainpan, before being rescued and setting off to uncover who wanted them six feet under. Their setting is the Mojave Wasteland, which features a run-down but barely functioning Las Vegas. You'll cross paths with various factions such as the oppressive slavers Caesar's Legion, the police-like New California Republic and Mr. House, who runs the Vegas Strip with an iron grip and dozens of deadly automatons. Progressing through the story locks you into a power struggle that'll decide the fate of the area. The open-ended story has you contending with dark, moral choices and arresting characters. What's more, the SPECIAL system, which determines your playstyle, can open up lots of avenues for replayability, and you'll have tonnes of fun exploring the many perks you have access to whenever you level up. Nier: Automata (2017) Play Those who invest themselves in Nier: Automata just won't see this one coming. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have evacuated the Earth, a handful of android warriors remain to combat an alien robot menace. However, the truth is much weirder than you first think. N:A's gameplay takes a wild swing in multiple directions, leaving you discombobulated and reeling from its unique encounters. By the time you've rolled past the credits for the first time, you'll have engaged in epic hack-and-slash swordplay, dodged a billion projectiles in its bullet-hell shooty sequences and even played through text adventures, with several perspective shifts throughout. Plus, you won't even be close to the game's true tear-jerker ending, which takes multiple playthroughs to achieve. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) Play Poll gamers as to their top game of all time, and chances are that Skyrim is up there. Set in the fantasy continent of Tamriel, players take up the mantle of the Dragonborn; a hero foretold who can defeat big bad Alduin the World-Eater. Of course, if players wish, they can complete the jaw-dropping amount of side quests and put saving the world on the back burner. Join a guild (or 10), solve Skyrim's civil war problem, recruit a companion and craft the ultimate weapon. All this means that Skyrim will turn you upside down and shake out hours of your life, which will be hours well spent. The game also has the verve to do away with character classes altogether, instead letting players level up by slowly becoming proficient at combat, crafting or smithing simply by doing. It's a wonderfully organic system that made perfect sense, letting players trial abilities rather than being pre-pigeonholed into specific classes. The first-person combat might be clunky from today's standards, but dragon-shouting hapless foes off snowy cliffs more than makes up for it. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025) Play When you can snuff it before you've even been born (much like medieval life) in the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, you knew you were in for a rough ride. The sequel thankfully carries on the story of a very much-alive Henry, where a chance bandit encounter leaves him bereft of his status and clothing, necessitating you to befriend the locals to complete quests and regain your identity and standing. You'll make your way through Bohemia, where you can engage in around 100 quests and activities that will more often than not throw a curveball at you. Realism is Deliverance 2's real strength, and its European townships feel organic and lived-in, reacting to your rep and status. And when it comes to combat, don't expect dropping into your first encounter like John Wick with a warhammer, either. Initial solo duels descend into a tense game of clashing swords and armour, with the melee hit system returning from the first game that demands timing, patience and skill to pull off. Part Middle Ages sandbox sim, part rewarding and ambitious RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 offers up a unique adventure that's sure to tempt trebuchet fans. Elden Ring (2022) Play FromSoftware's magnum opus has players step into the boots of the Tarnished, as they venture across the Lands Between to unite the fractured Great Runes of the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord. Build your character and wander across gorgeous and ethereal environments, where each area has much to discover and be killed by. By combining the best of the open world genre with the dungeon-crawling of Dark Souls, Elden Ring has an addictive and atmospheric world that feels intoxicating to explore, whether you want to grind for souls for hours to get more powerful or take on the many twisted enemies in this forsaken land. Enemy designs are often grotesque if not divinely fantastical, and there's more than 200 bosses and crushing difficulty spikes that'll make you curse your rudimentary flesh and blood fingers. An absolute triumph and unmissable paragon of the Soulsbourne genre. Diablo III (2012) Play Blizzard's seminal isometric dungeon crawler perfects the Diablo formula for its third outing. And while Diablo 4 is a great game that's a more tactical and cerebral experience, DIII keeps clawing us back for its faster-paced combat. This isometric dungeon crawler combines a heady mix of furious button-clicking combat with the promise of dopamine-infused loot drops with every victory. Players can select one of five character classes from the base game, like Barbarian, Demon Hunter, or Crusader, and need to cleanse the dark fantasy world of Sanctuary from the denizens of Hell. And there are many to send back underground, with screen-filling skirmishes often feeling like the most terrifying of Tolkien's works. But if you don't want to battle alone, multiplayer is on hand for friends to lend a hand and a bow, and with a huge variety of skills and magic to test out between character classes, finding that perfect synergy of abilities is always rewarding. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024) Play Rebirth follows the end of FF7 Remake, where Cloud and the gang depart Midgar to stop Sephiroth from destroying the planet. But once you step out into the wider world across the Grasslands, you'll find the once tiny hub world in the OG game has been beautifully realised. Kalm, the first town you come across, feels fleshed out, with a sprawling, vertical design full of areas bustling with life and activity. And as you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, there's a gazillion things to do, with sidequests to boost your companion affinities, fiends to vanquish, chocobos to find and a card game you can easily sink hours into. The monster designs have also been cranked up from the originals' limited polygons, and while you may want to stop and admire the artistry, you'll have your hands full not being punished by its many enemy types and bosses. Combat is a real challenge, demanding that you use its materia and weapon builds and synergy abilities in flawless unison, requiring split-second timing and quick tactical decision making. The alternate timeline story can definitely feel confusing, but it's clear that Square Enix have crafted FF7R with the utmost care and love for the original game. Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018) Play The eleventh mainline entry in the Assassin's Creed series transports players to Ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens. Playing as either sibling Alexios or Kassandra, Spartan mercs who get caught up in a conspiracy involving the shady Cult of Kosmos, they must defeat the cultists while staying alive amidst the war for all of Greece. Straight away, players will notice how huge the gameplay map is, while the Grecian islands, with their blue ocean, sandy beaches and varied environments, look and feel utterly lush. The familiar Ubisoftication is here in all its glory too, before the formula felt truly stale — find and take over encampments, embark on side quests, shiv high-ranking targets, etc etc. It can feel grindy at times, particularly with weapon and boss level requirements, but stealthily taking down scores of enemies at encampments while being hunted by mercenaries after your head can lead to fun and unique situations. Players can also destabilise regions by offing leaders, burning war supplies, and stealing war chests, triggering a conquest battle between the Athenians and the Spartans, in which you can pick a side. These large-scale battles keep proceedings interesting, while there's rewarding loot for the victor. And yes, you can Spartan kick enemies like a Mediterranean Gerard Butler.
Metro
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: Will there ever be a new Mass Effect game?
The Tuesday letters page worries that younger people are no longer interested in console games, as one reader looks forward to MachineGames' Quake reboot. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ BioWare Effect Considering how badly Dragon Age: The Veilguard did I'm honestly surprised that EA has not shut down BioWare yet. They're obviously dead meat if Mass Effect 4 isn't a hit but will they even make it that far? We've still not seen any gameplay or got any hint about when there'll be a reveal or, god forbid, a release date. I can't believe that a series that seemed so strong in the Xbox 360 era has fallen this far, to the point where younger gamers probably aren't even going to know what it is. Mass Effect 2 is hands down one of the best games of that generation, as far as I'm concerned, but it's all been downhill since then, especially with Andromeda. I really hope that BioWare pull it out of the bag and I pity them for the pressure they must be under. The worse thing is I have a feeling EA are only going along with it all in order to get the TV deal with Amazon. Could this be the first example of a game series being saved by its TV show? I guess you could argue Fallout but that was at least always going to get made, just not necessarily this quick. Igor Old man's game I don't want to come across as an old man but I'm not surprised to find out that the average age of console gamers is so old. In my experience, kids and teenagers just aren't that interested in traditional games. All they play is mobile games (because they're free) and PC games (because they're easy to pirate). From their perspective, there's no reason to get an expensive console to play mostly the same games. It's the same with movies, where younger people just aren't that interested and see going to the cinema as old-fashioned. Whether there'll get more into both things as they get older I don't think anyone can say but assuming that most young people will like video games and movies by default just isn't possible anymore and I suspect it's only going to get worse. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. That explains why publishers are obsessed with live service games, although abandoning the people they know will spend money in an attempt to snag new ones that currently don't seems a flawed concept to me. Taniss All or nothing There's been a lot of talk recently about EA's status as the last big independent publisher but I have got a really bad feeling about Battlefield 6. They seem to be putting everything they've got into it but what guarantee have they got that it's going to be any better than Battlefield 2042? They were all in on that when it started and look how quickly that fell apart. Not putting all your eggs in one basket is such a basic piece of advice but between this and EA Sports FC, EA just doesn't seem to care. Battlefield is never going to be as a big as they want, they whiffed that chance a decade ago. At this rate we're never going to get Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Limpton Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Machine formula Seems like MachineGames have been talking about rebooting Quake for so long now, but I would love to see it happen. I'm curious to see if it will have the same set-up as all their other games though, where there's lots of little open world areas where you wander around and speak to people and get side quests. They've been doing that since the days of Chronicles Of Riddick and while I've always loved their stuff, it feels like they're still no very well known, not even after Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. Quake has never been the same between any of its sequels, so it's totally possible for them to mould it into something of their own. I'd love to see it but then again, the thought of a Wolfenstein 3 in a post-Trump world makes me very interested to see how far Microsoft would let them go. Gonch Amiga power Happy birthday to the Amiga on Wednesday! I had an A600 and A1200 in the early nineties, up until 2001. I've just been watching an Amiga documentary Blu-ray and it mentions about RoboCop 3 on the Amiga and the fact that the RoboCop films used the Amiga to create the computer graphics when you saw from RoboCop's point of view in the films! I didn't know that. The Amiga was also used to create the TV series Babylon 5. Andrew J. Big screen gaming Finally got around to picking up a decent OLED TV, as Richer Sounds had a good deal on the 2024 model Samsung 55″ S90D. The picture quality and screen size make for a pretty breathtaking visual experience but I do wonder if I'll adjust to gaming on a large screen while sitting on a couch. I started gaming on small screens sat at a desk and have ever since. Playing SNES, with Blood Sugar Sex Magik playing on the tape deck, connected to a 14″ CRT TV on an elaborate black ash cabinet/storage/desk area my dad built in the room I shared with my two brothers. I can feel the urge already to move the consoles back to the 1080p 27″ monitor I've been gaming on for the last seven years. I find myself feel more connected to a game sitting upright and close to a screen. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try some different sitting positions on the sofa, maybe push it closer to the screen when gaming. Simundo The second Mortal Kombat 2 Could Mortal Kombat 2 be just as silly and violent as the films should have always been? Let's hope so, going by the newest trailer. Only problem is although Karl Urban is great, he doesn't always have the best luck in films he's associated with. Fingers crossed it doesn't turn out awful like its namesake from the past. Bobwallett GC: What's wrong with Karl Urban's filmography? We'd say he's had more hits than misses. Scary reality Yep. I've endured the entirety of Madison on my PlayStation VR2 and I think it's unquestionably a top contender for the scariest game I've ever played. The jump scares are certainly efficacious in virtual reality and the pervasively foreboding and spine-chilling atmosphere immersed me further into the interactive nightmare. The sound design is also amazing at inducing frequent head swivelling to determine the origins of the disturbing noises! There's one bit where a dastardly audio cue will forewarn you of the arrival of something truly horrendous, and even after several encounters of the worst kind with the evil entity, the sounds still managed to me feel weak at the knees. I also love how obtuse, elaborate, and stimulating the puzzle design is here. Like a fun maths-based one in the attic involving hidden figures and family portraits that had me pulling out a pen and paper to solve, because the way it's presented was so strange and wonderful. Two more sophisticated puzzles revolving around a clock room and one based in a mausoleum had the old grey matter sizzling. There are so many standout moments in the game that have lingered in my mind, like a parasitic organism that feeds on my primal fears. How a seemingly innocuous, omnipresent statue could elicit such anxiety in me is impressive. I really feel like games like Madison, and the superb Visage, do the legacy of cancelled Silent Hill project, P.T., proud with their dreamlike logic-based systems and incredibly unsettling haunted house settings. But protagonist Luca's prominent use of a magical camera to clear puzzles and capture some ghastly sights kind of evokes the Project Zero series too. The biggest compliment I could pay Argentinian developer Bloodious Game's debut is that every time I think about Madison's many blood-curdling moments, the hairs on the back on my neck stand up. Truly a hallmark of a great horror. Horror aficionados rejoice! Between Luto, Blooper Team's new IP, Cronos, Silent Hill f, Tormented Souls 2, and then Resident Evil Requiem in February 2026 – plus I'm sure some obscure indie horrors that I've yet to learn about – the genre of tentative treads and swelling dread has once more ingested the potent healing properties of the green and red herb formula, and it is in rude health indeed! Galvanized Gamer PS: Do you intend on reviewing another upcoming P.T. inspired horror, Luto, later this month? It looks very promising and I really enjoyed the creepy ghost story vibes in the demo. GC: Perhaps, it certainly does seem very much influenced by P.T. Inbox also-rans I really hope Nintendo goes big budget with the next Fire Emblem. For me, Engage was almost unplayable because it was obviously so cheap. It feels like they're taking advantage of fans and not really making any effort. Boysie If the new Ghost Recon is a first person shooter or a live service game then Ubisoft will have learned nothing. It'll be a pretty good indicator, actually, of whether there's any chance for them in the future, or if they're just never going to change. Lambo More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next big game for Nintendo Switch 2? MORE: Games Inbox: How would you improve Mario Kart World?
WIRED
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
‘Anthem' Is the Latest Video Game Casualty. What Should End-of-Life Care Look Like for Games?
Jul 7, 2025 6:43 PM Anthem will disappear in early 2026. The move comes as consumer group Stop Killing Video Games fights to preserve similar online service games. Electronic Arts and BioWare will sunset their online multiplayer game Anthem on January 12 of next year, effectively making it obsolete. ' Anthem was designed to be an online-only title so once the servers go offline, the game will no longer be playable,' BioWare wrote in the announcement. On August 15, the game will disappear from EA Play's playlist. Right now, players can't buy in-game currency, but they will still be able to spend what they have until servers are offline. Developers at BioWare who have been working on Anthem will not be laid off as a result of the game's end. News of the game's shutdown comes as the industry, already going through an upheaval, faces increased pressure from players to create 'end of life' plans for service games. Anthem 's development lasted almost seven years, during which the game struggled through major redirections. Its 2019 launch was widely panned by critics, who described it as uneven in its execution, riddled with bugs, and tedious. While BioWare and EA had initially planned to overhaul the game after launch—an undertaking known as Anthem Next —BioWare canceled the project in 2021, citing Covid-19, to shift focus to other games. Its live service continued to run. Online, fans on places like EA's official forums are asking for an 'offline mode' that would still allow them to play Anthem even without the servers. 'To shut down and completely remove a game people have put money into (especially without refunds) is a worrying and dangerous precedent,' one player wrote. 'If you bought a game you should be able to play it.' Another player wrote that 'letting games like Anthem disappear completely also sends a dangerous message: that live-service games are disposable, no matter how much time or money players invested.' Video games disappear for many reasons, whether it's licensing issues, code being lost, or physical media becoming unplayable. The developer's decision to end Anthem 's server support speaks to a problem specifically being combated by Stop Killing Games, a consumer movement out of the European Union that argues this practice is destroying some titles unnecessarily. 'An increasing number of video games are sold effectively as goods—with no stated expiration date—but designed to be completely unplayable as soon as support from the publisher ends,' the campaign's website reads. This practice, the movement's organizers claim, 'is not only detrimental to customers, but makes preservation effectively impossible.' Stop Killing Games won't be able to do anything to stop the demise of Anthem . The organization relies on petitions, tries to seek government intervention—actions that couldn't achieve outcomes before next January. Still, says founder Ross Scott, the sunsetting is 'exactly the sort we're trying to prevent.' The goal is to 'break the cycle so this doesn't keep happening for future games.' For Scott, and the other adherents of Stop Killing Games, destroying a videogame—much like destroying every copy of a book, album, or film—is tantamount to 'a cultural loss for society,' according to the group's website. 'While a less recognized medium, videogames still deserve to have basic protections against the complete and willful destruction of many of its works.' What they want is for companies to have backup plans that allow games to live on in a playable format even if they have to be taken offline. 'While Anthem received a lot of negative reviews, it obviously has a lot of production value behind it,' he says, as well as 'buyers who want to play the game regardless.' He's never played the game before. Now, he says, he won't get to. Easier said than done. Video games are a more dynamic medium than books or film, one that is predicated on both a player's autonomy in the game and can be supplemented through updates and downloadable content. Online games can be even trickier. SKG, however, argues that past multiplayer online games have survived without company servers through players privately hosting themselves. Stop Killing Games launched in 2024. Its first big petition is attempting to drum up support from the UK government, which will debate campaigns in Parliament if 100,000 signatures are gathered. The petition has since gained over 1 million signatures so far, a significant achievement that could tip the odds in SKG's favor, even if Parliament has yet to respond to the petition. The group also hoped that if enough people signed, they could persuade the European Commission to introduce consumer protection legislation aimed at preserving games. Last week, in a direct response to the petition, Video Games Europe, which represents the industry in that region, said that 'the decision to discontinue online services is multi-faceted, never taken lightly and must be an option for companies when an online experience is no longer commercially viable.' Moving games to private servers, the organization claimed, could leave players' data vulnerable and not allow games companies to 'combat unsafe community content' or remove illegal content. 'In addition,' Video Games Europe's statement read, 'many titles are designed from the ground-up to be online-only; in effect, these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create.' Video games are more costly than they've ever been, both to make and to buy. Players want media they can continue to play for years to come, and live service games are sold on the idea that they'll continually be updated and supported. Capturing that experience in a bottle will mean reconsidering how far that support goes—and if the video games of today will have the staying power of their predecessors. 'I do commend [Video Games Europe's] honesty on how they view customers playing old games as an industry problem because they see that as competing with new ones,' Scott says. 'We're obviously opposed to those views and feel customers should enjoy whatever it is they paid for.'
Gizmodo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
So Long, ‘Anthem,' See Ya In the Skies
In February 2019, Dragon Age and Mass Effect developer BioWare released Anthem, a third-person shooter about human Freelancers donning armored Javelin suits to fight monsters and various factions. After seven years, EA is permanently taking the live-service game down on January 12, 2026, and with it, a chapter in the studio's modern era is forever gone. To know Anthem is to know its tumultuous life; the game famously suffered from crunch and internal struggles owing to BioWare's knowledge of separately developing multiplayer games and third-person shooters—thanks, respectively, to Star Wars: The Old Republic and its Mass Effect series—but not having the expertise to make an ongoing multiplayer third-person shooter. But at the time, we didn't know that; we just saw a game with four-player co-op about flying around big, expansive environments in sick mech suits with cool powers. At a time when the live-service shooter market was mainly just Destiny 2 and Warframe, it seemed like this could be another winner in that lineup. But that didn't happen. While it had a really great initial reveal, Anthem launched to mixed reviews and players running out of things to do fast. BioWare tried to steer things in a better direction with free DLC and a proposed rework, even going so far as to detail what specific ideas they hoped to implement. From increased drop rates to sky pirates and deeper Javelin build customization, it all sounded promising in concept, and seemed like the type of reboot that could really turn things around. Come 2021, EA opted to end future development; BioWare refocused on single-player games with the Mass Effect remasters and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the latter of which started as a live-service game and had those elements mostly stripped out. Anthem's place in video game history is…kind of complicated. Its short life aside, it actually did fairly well commercially, with 5 million copies sold within its lifetime. Over the years, I've revisited it on PC and PlayStation and it's generally been easy to join or start a session. That clearly shows signs of an affection for the game, and in the time before EA's fateful decision, there was genuine support at it potentially getting a second shot at life a la Final Fantasy XIV and Destiny: The Taken King. That turnaround was somewhat undermined by the weeks and months leading up to the game's release, where it was nitpicked to hell and back and people were cynical enough to openly hope the game would fail. Some thought it didn't look good and was forced onto the developer by EA, others were just being mean and decided this was the game to dunk on because it represented current gaming trends they didn't like. Not a condemnation, just a general fact: every year, there's at least one triple-A game everyone decides to work their industry frustrations out on, and that year, it just happened to be Anthem. That doesn't take any of the sting away when the object of ire is something you enjoyed and wished others would understand why or lighten up on, or how that desire for blood has evolved into full-on hate campaigns and harassment toward developers of more recent titles. But Anthem's true legacy is one of a dodged bullet: over the years, similar attempts by publishers to end Destiny 2's reign (and that of fellow live-service giants like Fortnite and GTA Online) haven't exactly gone to plan. In many cases, those games' ends hit much harder than Anthem, and these days, a game's end can take much (or all) of a developer's staff with it. Not all of them get the dignity of having their servers left intact, let alone for nearly an entire decade. In that sense, BioWare was lucky, but only just so. Pre-release, Anthem was viewed by the optimistic as a potential redemption for the studio following the underperformance of 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda, which has since had its own moment in the sun despite an equally rocky development and initial mixed reception. Anthem is arguably more of a black mark on the studio more than Andromeda since it was a new IP that lacked the safety net of an established franchise. Since both games' releases, questions of BioWare's future have grown in volume alongside the realization EA has repeatedly jerked the studio around on its recent projects and foisted unrealistic expectations foisted on those games. (And this isn't the only EA subsidiary burdened with this.) The publisher just wants its money makers, but lacks the sense to get out of its own way and let the developers do what they do best so to can make the hits they're all capable of, a troubling trend throughout 2025 and years past. Saying Anthem is going out with a whimper might be generous; unlike Star Wars Battlefront II's recent resurgence, it never really had a moment to reinvigorate its player base. (A Steam release might've made that possible.) Most seemed content to move on unless it was time to talk about BioWare and EA's current issues, or ill-advised live-service forays that seemed a good idea years earlier. Maybe that'll change closer to the servers going offline in January, maybe former developers will reminisce or throw shade about its rocky development or what they hoped to do with that rework. Regardless, the game we got is the game we got, and for all the snarking about it that's due to come in the next six months, there'll likely be about as much fond memories of its initial potential and those fun moments of flying around and pulling off combos in between the monotony and grind. At best, Anthem is passable bordering on Fine, but now comes off like a miracle that it got to exist and have enough time to breathe before it met its unceremonious end. Will always wish it were better and got to see its course correction through to the end, but at least I got some barrel rolls and good music out of the experience. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Forbes
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
EA Is Completely Shutting Down ‘Anthem' And No, You Can't Get A Refund
Anthem One of the biggest misfires of the looter-shooter Destiny-copycat era was BioWare's Anthem, a game that sapped loads of time and resources away from the likes of Dragon Age and Mass Effect to produce a half-baked release. I kind of loved it. Anthem had so, so many problems, of course, and it was not shocking that eventually, EA killed it instead of tripling down with more major updates. But now, EA has ended things for a second time. For good, It has just been announced that Anthem servers will be shut down entirely on January 12, 2026, six months from now. The game has still been able to be played all this time, even since its 'death' in February 2021, but now? Nothing. You won't be able to play at all. This is sad because Anthem will always be a 'what could have been' for me with genuinely fun combat and moves toward fixing itself near the end. But this raises another modern-era games question about a title that people paid for but now will not be able to play at all. Despite single-player elements including an entire campaign you'd play solo, because the game needs a server connection, with those servers offline, you cannot play it. And no, no refunds will be issued for the game. The FAQ doesn't address this, but it's true, though it does have a section about how you can still spend your premium in-game currency until it's shut down! Hooray! Anthem FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder The timing of this comes alongside a big movement called Stop Killing Games, a petition that has racked up 1.1 million supporters and is about exactly this: games that players paid for being summarily deleted from existence. Here's the description: Right now this is largely based in Europe, and in some countries, progress has been made regarding the process in some places. This current movement is UK-focused, as a petition like this will be considered to be brought before Parliament if it gets 100,000 signatures. It has certainly gotten that. A separate movement to register complaints in France about The Crew being shut down is also part of this. This is not some moneymaking scheme; Stop Killing Games does not want funding, but a genuine consumer movement, and now we can add Anthem to a long list of games that are unplayable because they were designed as online-only, even with single-player elements, and have shut those servers down so they are inaccessible. And no, no refunds. That seems very wrong. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
