It’s time to say goodbye to online services for some classic games as Electronic Arts (EA) begins shutting down online servers for older games including Mirror’s Edge, 2010’s NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, and Shank 2.
EA plans to bring the servers down in the coming months and some games are already on their way out. 19 January 2023 will see the end of online functions for some of the all-time favourite classics.
Why?
Feasibility, that’s why. EA says there aren’t enough of you playing these older games, because you moved on to new ones. Makes sense, but still hurts.
“As games are replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the games that have been live for some time dwindles to a level – typically fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles – where it’s no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping the online services for these games up and running,” notes EA on its website.
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EA does this (putting old online services down) on a regular basis depending on that “feasibility”.
This affects online gaming communities, especially those around multiplayer-only games. Gamers may have to find new games for meetups. You’ll still be able to play some of the games offline, with some features missing. It all depends on what EA decides to give the boot.
“Players’ inventory of virtual currency and/or in-game items may continue to be used, whether or not the applicable in-game store is open or disabled, and whether or not the game is still available for sale to new users,” adds EA.
This is a painful one, especially if you’re highly ranked on some of these golden oldies. And who will you show off your achievements to now? Your IRL friends? They won’t understand.
Enjoy the games while you can, January is coming. Here are your deadlines.
- 20 October 2022 – Army of Two: The 40th Day, Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel
- 20 October 2022 – Dragon Age Origins (just the multiplayer screenshots server)
- 09 November 2022 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
- 09 November 2022 – Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for Xbox 360 (including Kane’s Wrath expansion)
- 09 November 2022 – Mercenaries 2 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
- 30 November 2022- ONRUSH
- 15 December 2022 – Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings for Luna+
- 15 December 2022 – Super Mega Baseball 3 for Luna+
- 19 January 2023 – Shank 2
- 19 January 2023 – Gatling Gears
- 19 January 2023 – Mirror’s Edge
- 19 January 2023 – NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
