EA is dropping the bomb on a number of their video game servers, shutting down the online fun for many of their Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 games. The list is after the break and you’ll surprisingly find many a game ending with the suffix “09.”
EA is so hungry to sell their new video games to old customers that they have released a particularly unhealthy list of video games that they’ll be nuking on February 2nd 2010. Oh, and Happy New Year by the way.
The company writes on their website that gamers will be able to play the following games up until that date, but some community programs may begin to close before then. They even seal the letter by offering distraught gamers their current line up of online games for purchase:
All of us at EA would like to thank you for your valued participation in our online gaming community and hope that your enthusiasm for these games extends to our current lineup and beyond.
Expletives may leave your lips when you read the rundown of titles. Not only is the inclusion of PS3 and Xbox 360 titles surprising, the date the games were released is even more surprising. Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown…but Madden 09 on all consoles as well? Europe gets more of the brunt with NASCAR 09 and NBA 09 (Wii) also. These titles were only released just over a year ago and yet EA is ready to say goodbye and force gamers to put up the cash if they want to jump online.
There is a suspicion that P2P online gaming may still be able to continue, but since most of the games need to be signed into EA’s servers to play online at all, its unlikely gamers will even be able to do that. Enjoy gritting you teeth to the following list:
February 2, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
- UEFA Champions League 07 PC and x360
- Facebreaker x360 and PS3
- Fantasy Football 09 x360 and PS3
- FIFA 07 PSP, PS2, PC
- Fight Night Round 3 PS2
- Madden 08 Wii
- Madden 08 PC
- Madden 09 Xbox1
- Madden 09 Wii and PSP
- March Madness 07 x360
- NBA 07 PSP, x360
- NBA 08 PS2, PSP, Wii
- NBA 09 Wii – Europe only
- NBA Street (2007) PS3 and x360
- NCAA Football 08 PS2
- NCAA Football 09 PS2
- NASCAR 08 PS2
- NASCAR 09 PS2
- NASCAR 09 PS3 and x360 – Europe Only
- NFL Tour PS3 and x360
- NHL 07 PSP and x360
- NHL 08 PC
- Tiger Woods 07 PC
- Madden 09 x360 and PS3
- Madden 07 Xbox 360
I wonder if EA is going to use the available space for more servers to support their current games? Anyone try Battlefield 1943 recently?
It means nothing for Madden 10 users, I’m sure. It’s just EA being EA. Nothing to see here people, move along. I haven’t bought an EA game in years because all I have ever seen from them is complete disregard for creativity. They buy these small quality game developers, rush their games out the door unfinished/crapified, then shut them down when it doesn’t sell well. I will never buy EA ever again. EA- FUCK YOU.
there all sport / football games , in short not very good games. show how good of games they are, if they are in the list it simply means lack of online players and ea trying to save money by cutting back on hosting servers for games that arnt worth keeping up.
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Eh, it’s not a lack of players that’s forcing them to shut them down. I know my neighbor plays Madden 09 all day, every day. I see him on his balcony at 2AM with controller in hand. They want to ‘force’ people into buying a new version of the game.
The idea that the older servers are somehow less efficient than the newer ones would seem off to me. The older games are going to use a lot less bandwidth than the newer games.
I won’t buy EA at this point. I’m not a sports game fan to begin with, but anything that doesn’t allow me to run my own server if I want isn’t worth the purchase. If you do buy it, you’re open to this.
At least you can still play them single player! Not like that gets boring. ;X
EA is a business therefore this decision was made to make them more money… Exactly why I am a PC gamer where these companies cannot control every single aspect of your gaming experience.
In my experience with EA games, apart from releasing endless games with patches within a few days of release (almost like they are using the public as the real beta test) their server support has never been worth it. There is always alternative ways for the PC (ie Hamachi) but I think the console’s are outta luck.
EA’s quality has been a consistently worsening over time, the only thing I am very cautiously optimisitc of is Bad Company 2. But most of their multi hype I have heard was in response to CoD MW2′s lack of servers. Kinda ironic that now they are getting rid of servers themselves!
i only buy thr games for online game paly so i would be pissed of
Aww those are most of my favorite PSP games. Guess I’ll have to buy the new ones. Aww screw it I quit online gaming altogether..
Hahaha, I feel less and less guilty about pirating stuff every day!
I understand the economics of it all. It doesn’t change the fact that it is an unsavory manner of doing business and trying to drive more sales. I do not play any on line games that require me to pay for access to servers nor those that lock me into the servers maintained by the producers of the games. If I can’t run my own private server then I am not interested, period. There are allot of great titles that are still very popular and have a dedicated following, UT2004 for one. Epic will never sell me another game after the UT3 alpha they sold me as a working platform. I would suggest that you show your anger at the blatant move by purchasing game by other development companies and deprive the EA of the profits they hope to garner from this crappy move.
They are pushing to move and design games from something you buy and own, to something you are privileged to play for the period they allow you to play it.
Next move will be that there will be no way to play the games offline at all and all action has to be done online.
And you’ll be shelling out xxx$ a year for every game you wish to play.
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At leastm they should allow people to create their own server. But no. I wouldn’t trust them any more, that’s a shame. I totally agree with mikeiver (#27). If I want to play online, I probably should choose some other games from another compagny. Otherwise, I might be unable to play 1 year later…
I don’t care I play open-source games : Allegiance (online space strategy multiplayer game) and Urban Terror (CS clone)…
“Hahaha, I feel less and less guilty about pirating stuff every day!”
AGREED!
EA are cheeky mofo’s as in my PS3 tiger woods 09 you get in-game internet updated driven adverts for which EA are getting revenue, yet they have shut down the multiplayerserver!!!!!
ea ur a fucking gay.i loved to play mohh when you shut it down…well it was like takeing my frends away 8( you cunts!!! bye.