EA Releases Anthem Early Access Charts Detailing When You Can Play

BioWare’s newest game, Anthem, will be released on February 22, 2019. Well, sort of. A variety of factors, like what platform you play on and whether you preordered or not, can actually determine if you get to play Anthem early. EA, possibly sensing widespread confusion, actually released a spreadsheet detailing exactly when and how you can play Anthem.

Of course, Anthem’s open demo goes live on February 1st and ends on February 3rd. Following that, however, is when things start to get more complicated. On February 15th, a week before Anthem “officially” launches, EA Origin Access Premier members will be able to play the full game. Those who use EA Access or Origin Access Basic (on Xbox One and PC, respectively) can also play Anthem on February 15th, but only for ten hours. Of course, everyone will be able to play Anthem on February 22nd.

It certainly is somewhat confusing to wrap your head around at first. Players on Xbox and PC can play on the same day, although only a select group can actually play the full game. At the same time, PlayStation 4 players get diddly squat. However, this is definitely becoming a pattern of sorts for EA. Though Battlefield V’s official release date was November 15, 2018, Origin Access Premier subscribers could play it a week early.

However, maybe getting Anthem in the hands of certain players early could be a good thing. It has seen its fair share of controversy lately, such as concern over the in-game purchases. Unfortunately, Anthem’s VIP demo was filled with issues, forcing BioWare to apologize. A list of improvements for the public demo have already been announced, so let’s hope the next demo goes much smoother. Some early word of mouth and positive buzz for Anthem would surely be a good thing.