Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah peels back the curtain on the troubled development of Anthem in a revealing new YouTube video. The ambitious multiplayer third-person shooter officially launched in 2019 but received mostly negative reactions right off the bat. It’s now slated to shut down in January 2026. In the video, Darrah reveals a project steered by hype, identity crises, and an ambition that outpaced execution.
At the heart of the issue was a pitch by Casey Hudson, returning Mass Effect director, who didn’t just propose a new game—he pitched a new vision for BioWare. Darrah quotes Hudson’s internal pitch: “what if [it’s] a BioWare game but it could do FIFA numbers?” This idea of blending BioWare’s storied narratives with live-service monetization caught EA’s attention—but much of that early vision failed to make the final cut.
Darrah also highlights how lineup chaos and executive messaging muddied the project’s identity. In his own words: “It isn’t Destiny. It isn’t Borderlands. It isn’t Mass Effect. But it has no one really clearly saying what it is.” Without a clear target, the team reportedly looped through endless iterations.
He further reveals that delaying Anthem could’ve been on the table—he even backed a push to release Dragon Age: The Veilguard first—but the idea was rejected.
Finally, he points out that when Hudson exited the studio, Anthem lost more than a creative lead—it lost its voice of clarity. The “future of storytelling” pitch became just another catchphrase without anyone there to make sense of it.
Darrah doesn’t offer all the answers—and he’s only one piece of the puzzle—but with Anthem already slotted for shutdown, his frank breakdown is about as close as we’ll get to understanding what went wrong.
