Last week I reported on a slew of user reports indicating that PS4 players were receiving major crashing issues when playing Anthem. The game would crash at any moment. In some cases, the game would crash and turn the PS4 console completely off. This was supposedly problem exclusive to PS4, although crashing was reported on Xbox One too.
Now, players are reporting, even more, concerning issues: console bricking. This term means that the console is becoming completely unusable. This happens after players experience crashes on the PS4 while playing Anthem.
Redditors have made note of this issue on very popular threads, including one by /u/TheMadTitanGauntlet. On their thread, they say that their PlayStation is "completely bricked to the point of not even turning on because of Anthem."
Other Redditors came in to say that the hard shutdown crash is still going on. Considering that /u/TheMadTitanGauntlet's console was completely bricked after a crash, others have the potential to experience this as well.
Some Xbox One users in the same thread report similar findings. Anthem would freeze and crash, and sometimes make strange sounds. Hard resetting the console (done by keeping your finger on the power button until it turns off) seemed to bring the Xbox back to normal. But so far there aren't any reports of the Xbox One being bricked.
News editor for Kotaku Jason Schrier said he received an email from a game developer who says that their PS4 was also bricked, so this isn't a singular issue.
Andrew Johnson, Bioware's Global Community lead for Anthem, says that the company is currently looking into the issue.
One remedy to this could potentially be by initiating PS4's Safe Mode, according to Reddit user /u/katcher12. To go into Safe Mode, you can just hold down the console's power button until it beeps twice. Then, press Rebuild Database. The console might be operable again and not actually bricked.
One popular Reddit thread discussing this issue has some users reporting that they are receiving refunds for Anthem from Sony. This would, of course, apply only for digital copies and not all users seem to be getting them.. The PlayStation Store's refund policy may apply, so there isn't a guarantee. Still, if you are concerned for your console or are generally unsatisfied with Anthem, it's worth a try.
We reached out to EA and Sony. We will update you if we receive a response.
Quick Take
This bodes ill for Anthem. Putting aside whether the game is good or bad, this is a serious issue that will deter buyers. If I owned a PS4 and wanted Anthem, I would steer clear. Hopefully, the developers fix this issue ASAP. It's a problem I've never seen before, but it could take a while with something so serious.
Have you experienced crashes while playing Anthem? What do you think this means for the game's future? Let us know in the comments below!
