The Anthem VIP demo went live earlier today. Alright, if you’ve been paying attention to the news, it actually did a bit of the opposite. Players trying to log into the demo were stopped at the log-in screen, unable to jump in and play. At the time, we thought it was a server capacity issue. Mostly, this was due to the warning message that popped up claiming such. However, it’s come to light that Anthem‘s server issues are not about capacity at all. The log-in server itself appears to be the blame. The problem is also systemic, affecting other EA games.

BioWare general manager Casey Hudson explained the cause of the error on Twitter. Naturally, the problem came out of the blue. The team most likely planned for issues, but they didn’t expect the game to get tanked at an Origin log-in screen. EA’s Corey Andress confirmed Hudson’s remarks, saying “this is sounding like a Nucleus/Origin login issue,” and “If you can’t login to our services, you can’t play online. That’s as simple as I can put it right now.”

Turns out to not be a server capacity issue. Seems to be a different issue that didn’t come up in previous scale testing. Teams are on it… https://t.co/nnDi2xK1s6

— Casey Hudson (@CaseyDHudson) January 25, 2019

At least Hudson is handling it better than his peer, Mark Darrah. Anthem‘s executive producer was last seen enjoying some desk time.

You Shall Not Pass

So, what’s this log-in issue all about, and what’s being done? While game servers run separate from one another, log-in services are shared across all EA games. According to FIFA producer Joel Doonan, this is “pretty standard stuff.” Both FIFA and Battlefront II have also been suffering from log-in problems. Hudson promises that it’s being worked on, and as of this hour, the EA Help Twitter account confirmed that things are improving. But it’s not perfect, yet.

Anthem has been highly anticipated since it was revealed at E3 in 2017. Many of us, myself included, have been waiting to try BioWare’s latest “not Destiny” co-op shooter for some time. Sadly, until these server issues get cleared up, we’ll still have to wait in the sidelines. It sounds like EA has it all mostly figured out, which should give us at least a couple days of uninterrupted gaming. Of course, EA could extend the weekend for another day because of the issue. Either way, things should be fine before the open demo begins next week.