Anthem has matchmaking for every activity by default, but you can solo most of the game if you want

Anthem won't require you to pencil in an appointment with a group of hand-picked players to experience its most challenging and rewarding content. If that sounds like a not-at-all subtle dig at Destiny 2 to you, well, you're not wrong. As a Destiny player who was curious about raids but never had the time or gumption to join a raiding group or use external tools (let's not pretend that Guided Games are a proper substitute), I'm pretty happy with Anthem's decision here.

Anthem lead producer Ben Irving confirmed this small but important detail in a response to a fan's questions on Twitter: matchmaking is enabled for every activity in Anthem. Irving's feed is packed with such nuggets of wisdom on Anthem gameplay details as EA and BioWare gear up for the arrival of Anthem in February.

You won't have to queue up with other players if you don't want to. But Irving noted a crucial distinction about Anthem matchmaking a few days later.

Whatever the default is tends to be the most popular - most players never bother to tweak their settings - so this means Anthem should have a healthy matchmaking pool for many activities. I expect that will especially be the case for Strongholds, Anthem's dungeon equivalent in which high-leveled players can test their skills and gear for a chance at powerful loot (check out this gameplay footage for an in-depth look at a Stronghold).

There are drawbacks to public matchmaking: you might end up with a team full of jerks, or you might fail the mission over and over again as it becomes clear nobody knows what the hell they're doing. Anthem players will surely face problems like these as well, but there's good news for those who cut their losses in the middle of an ill-fated activity.

If you're a dyed-in-the-fur lone wolf, you can turn off matchmaking and eschew pre-made parties to play through most of Anthem on your own. Or if you prefer to duo up with your best bud, that should work too - though the enemies will be tougher to compensate for your extra firepower.

Check out Anthem's 4K gameplay trailer to get a very big and shiny look at the game.