The shutdowns may have the potential to brick consoles, according to player reports.
A number of PlayStation 4 owners are allegedly experiencing console crashes while trying to play Anthem, leading to an influx of refund requests aimed at Sony and Electronic Arts.
As reported by Kotaku, players are posting their experiences across Reddit, Twitter, and the official Anthem forum, detailing a problem in which their PS4s completely and unexpectedly shut down while trying to play or close out of BioWare’s online RPG.
“When encountering a crash or game error, sometimes I get booted to the main menu or out of the game completely to the PS4 dashboard,” wrote Reddit user forthemaster. “But twice now when trying to matchmake my PS4 has completely turned off.” The thread, and others like it, are filled with players claiming to have encountered the same problem.
Those experiencing the issue, including a poster on the Anthem forum, allege their consoles react to the crashes as if “someone pulled the plug without properly shutting the hardware down or if the power went out in the house.” Upon restarting their consoles, players are reportedly met with error code CE-36329-3, which PlayStation describes as a “system software” error.
Update, 3/4 3:50 p.m. PT: In a statement recently posted to the EA Help Twitter account, EA acknowledged it is aware of some crashing issues and directed players to the EA Answers website. The company’s full statement reads:
“We’re aware of a crashing issue some of you have been reporting for #AnthemGame. We’re investigating and ask that you share your crash data reports when prompted. If you have, we’ll be reaching out to gather info; if not, please reply to this thread on AHQ:”
The crashes, however, may prove more damaging to some, as multiple Reddit users allege their PS4s have been bricked following the Anthem-related crashes.
Though the number of reports have seemingly increased over the past 24 hours, some forum posts detailing this issue date back to last week. According to player reports, the issue has the potential to affect both standard PS4s and PS4 Pro consoles.
Players who’ve requested a refund due the issue have reportedly done so with varying degrees of success. Reddit user Malavestro claims to have received a full refund from Sony, though it appears most requests are being denied.
IGN has reached out to both Sony for comment on these alleged refunds, as well as whether a fix might be in the works.
For more on BioWare’s online RPG, check out our opinion piece on why Anthem’s NPCs are fantastic. You can also read IGN’s Anthem review, which made note of the “absolute enormity of major bugs that still need to be squashed.”
Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @jdsirani.
