Update (5:27 pm PT): EA's official Twitter support account has tweeted out that the main issue plaguing the Anthem VIP demo on PC and PS4 has been resolved. So far, it seems most staff at PC Gamer are able to reliably connect. However, there still seems to be an annoying infinite loading screen bug that many users are reporting as well as random crashes to desktop—so things are still far from perfect.
The main issue impacting the Anthem VIP demo on PC and PS4 has been resolved. Anyone who has had an issue on those platforms should restart the game and attempt to join again. Our team is still working on fixes for some of the issues we’re seeing on Xbox One.January 26, 2019
Update (12:52 pm PT): BioWare GM Casey Hudson now says the problem is not related to server capacity, but something else that "didn't come up in previous scale testing."
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/nnDi2xK1s6January 25, 2019
Update (12:16 pm PT): A couple of us have been able to play the Anthem VIP demo for a bit, but for a while we were struggling to even connect to Origin itself, so things still aren't going smoothly. EA continues to work on the issues.
Update (10:05 am PT): Several PC Gamer staff members in the US have been able to connect, but not all of us are able to play just yet, so some issues are persisting. We'll keep you updated as we keep beating on the servers' doors.
Original story: Set to go live at 9 am PT this morning, the Anthem VIP demo isn't letting many players in right out of the gate. In the initial rush to play, the servers have been overwhelmed, with players (including the entirety of our staff) receiving a message stating, "We're sorry, but the EA servers reached max capacity. Please try again later."
Jesse Anderson, Community Manager at EA for Anthem says they're aware and working on solution.
Servers are getting SLAMMED for the #AnthemGame VIP demo right now. The team is working on it as we speak.January 25, 2019
Still, it's a bit surprising to see the servers get bogged down like this. The VIP demo isn't public, limited to preorders, Origin subscriptions, and friend codes, so EA should have been able to see exactly how many people were signed up to play and accounted for it. A bummer, for sure, but I'm guessing we'll get in soon enough and could possibly see a small extension to the VIP demo period beyond the weekend.
EA says it's increasing the server capacity as we speak. One of us has managed to get in so far.
We're adding more server capacity to the #Anthem demo right now. Hang tight while we work to get everyone into the game.January 25, 2019
