Former BioWare Producer Claims Anthem Could Return as a Single-Player RPG for $10 Million
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Former BioWare producer Mark Darrah outlines a $10 million plan to revive the recently sunsetted Anthem as a single-player RPG featuring local servers and AI companions.
As the official servers for Anthem finally go dark, former Dragon Age and Mass Effect executive producer Mark Darrah has floated a surprising rescue plan for BioWare's ill-fated sci-fi project. In a retrospective video covered by Eurogamer and originally reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, Darrah outlined a conservative $10 million budget to resurrect the title as a traditional single-player RPG. The pitch arrives just as EA pulls the plug on the always-online looter shooter, ending a chapter that many players felt traded genuine role-playing depth for forced multiplayer mechanics.
Darrah's blueprint relies on a few key structural pivots to make the project financially viable. First, the game would need a current-generation tech update targeting a solid 60 frames per second, leaning on modern hardware to handle the heavy lifting. More importantly, the revival would transition away from online dependency by implementing locally hosted servers, a feature that reportedly existed in early development builds. Cutting the overhead costs of maintaining dedicated publisher servers would instantly remove the primary financial drain that sinks live-service experiments of this scale.
The bulk of the budget would instead fund the creation of AI companions to fill out the squad-based combat loop. Because Anthem was originally designed around four-player groups, Darrah suggests developing three to five new companion characters complete with custom dialogue, personal plot arcs, and distinct Javelin playstyles. While engineering AI pilots capable of navigating the game's vertical open world presents a technical hurdle, the proposal offers a fascinating glimpse into how mothballed live-service giants might find a second life away from the always-online treadmill. Head over to Rock Paper Shotgun for the full breakdown of the pitch and its underlying engineering challenges.
Tags: Anthem, BioWare, Mark Darrah, RPG, Gaming News
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun