Anthem hasn’t had the smoothest launch, and now players of the PS4 version have had the game shut their systems off. A number of Anthem PS4 players have had problems with the game turning their systems off seemingly at random, and some have even had trouble turning their systems back on.
Kotaku reports that forum-goers and redditors have been having these problems while playing Anthem. Their PS4 consoles have completely turned off while playing the game, sometimes while doing activities like matchmaking. Some users note that with other crashes they were simply booted to the PS4 dashboard, but these system crashes acted as if the PS4 had been unplugged.
Posts on the game’s official forum stretch back to over a week ago with players sharing similar experiences. A number of Anthem PS4 players have had to resort to power cycling their systems to get them to turn back on. This puts the systems into a sort of safe mode where system storage needs to be checked for integrity. Both PS4 and PS4 Pro owners have reported the issue.
EA and Sony have yet to address the problem. Speculation online is that Anthem is overheating some PS4 systems due to accumulated dust, but others have had the problem with new or otherwise clean consoles. Others are unsure, with some suggesting a memory leak or other problem with Frostbite, the game’s engine.
A number of users have had their systems turn off when attempting to close Anthem as well. The range of causes for PS4 shutdowns might make it difficult for BioWare to track down and fix, so hopefully, the developer sheds some light on the issue soon. EA DICE, the original developers of the Frostbite engine, might also be able to help solve the issue. Until we know what’s causing it, it might be best to stay away from the game if you are concerned over the bug. You can also try asking for a refund from Sony.