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Electronic Arts shutting down online for older games photo

EA is performing a cull of online components for a number of older titles, including entries in the Battlefield, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor series. The most tragic shutdown is, of course, Army of Two. The dedicated co-op community for that game is going to be devastated. 

The publisher says that fewer than 1% of its "peak online players across all EA titles" are playing these older offerings, so most of you will be unaffected. The titles will be blinking out throughout August and October, so if you play any of them, enjoy them while you can. 

Full list below.

August 11, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

  • Army of Two for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
  • Army of Two Demo for Xbox 360
  • Battlefield 2142 Demo for PC
  • Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for Xbox 360
  • Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Demo for Xbox 360
  • Medal of Honor Airborne for PlayStation Portable
  • Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for PlayStation Portable and Wii
  • NASCAR 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (North America)
  • NCAA Basketball 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
  • NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
  • Need for Speed Most Wanted for PC and Xbox 360
  • Need for Speed Undercover for PlayStation Portable;
  • Skate for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

October 1, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

  • Madden NFL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
  • NHL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360







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50 comments | showing # 1 to 50
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Chris Carter's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:07
Chris Carter
I played Unreal Tournament the other day on my PC.

That game came out in 1999.

Fucking consoles.
tuoman's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:07
tuoman
"Whaaa da fuckkk? Gimme titttties" - Army of Two online community
Chris Carter's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:08
Chris Carter
I played Unreal Tournament online* the other day on my PC.
KingSigy's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:15
KingSigy
I can see PS3 and PC games as they are only supported by the developer, but 360? What's the fucking point of paying for Live if the games go offline?

@Magnalon

Nice!
Stevil's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:16
Stevil
I feel sorry for anybody wanting to go back and dig up old treasures, only to find major components missing. It's basically strong arming you into buying the latest products and sure, while that makes sense to keep up with crowds, what of the people who want to check out the stuff that was missed first time around?

Sure, we can laugh at Army of Two's misfortune, but isn't the whole point of that game centered around tactical co-op? I don't want to go looking for this title in a year's time (well, if ever) only to find I'm stuck with inane AI. Does the half-price on GoD or pre-owned/eBay really justify all that?

Right now, I'm dusting off the original Bad Company and I'm amazed at the amount of folks still playing that. How long is that going to last when Battlefield 3 turns up? I don't like this idea of moving forward, but then, the idea of a company losing money on goodwill is obviously not a viable option for them.
KwikPwn's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:19
KwikPwn
These cocks are trying to get to where their yearly sports titles' online component is only available for a year after initial release.

Online functionality should remain throughout the life-cycle of the console.

It's bad enough that you cheap bastards won't allow for free up to date roster updates for older titles.

If you want people to buy your games every 12 months, earn their purchase by releasing innovative software. Don't try to weasle another purchase out of them by disabling/restricting features to only the most current releases.
ManWithNoName's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:22
ManWithNoName
Stevil put the right point, servers are not cost free to maintain. Hoping that the responsible for paying for them will keep them running forever is utopic at best.
SKSith's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:24
SKSith
This means platinum trophies for any of these games will be impossible. No matter to me, only one I'm at all interested in going for is NFS, maybe, and I have till August to decide/do it.
Occams electric toothbrush's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:34
Occams electric toothbrush
Its the nature of the beast I think. These servers just arent worth the cost to maintain. Reminds me of those guys who kept playing Halo 2 for a while to keep the servers going. Dedicated fellas.
overdoze's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:37
overdoze
Personally I feel that when this is done there should still be a way to connect peer to peer with someone on your friends list or by ip on pc.
Begaria's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:41
Begaria
I have an Uncle who works at EA and he says that they're going to be doing this to even more recent games very soon, just to piss off people who bought into the EA Online Pass.
fetusmilk's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:43
fetusmilk
where are the people,ya know like the linux ps3 people, complaining that what i paid for is no longer useable to its fullest capacity. i hate internet connected consoles. always have.
Josef Hargreaves's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:43
Josef Hargreaves
"Fancy leaving on our x-Box with one of those games on like those guys did for Halo?"
"No."
"I don't blame you."
TonicBH's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:47
TonicBH
@Stevil

Thankfully you can play Army of Two co-op locally. Did it with a friend a couple months back. It's still bullshit, though.
Sexualchocolate's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:49
Sexualchocolate
But but but, isn't Battlefield 2 like the best FPS game ever brought to consoles?

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

This is quite a bummer.
GoonieGooGoo4's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:49
GoonieGooGoo4
While I am disappointed that games do go offline....it is a necessary evil.

Though it is happening faster for games these days. The original XBOX LIVE games lasted for much longer.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat ...good stuff....why did they remove unlimited mines again?? I rememebr laying 100s of mines on that level with the bridge....BRING THAT BACK DICE!
Naturality's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 08:54
Naturality
As long the the proper BF2 isn't affected, I don't care.
salamagogo's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:33
salamagogo
Just another reason to steer me further away from online-centric games. Single player games like oblivion can't be shut down.
Jawmuncher's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:33
Jawmuncher
One of my most hated aspects about consoles.
Wish they could at least set it up to where if a fan wanted to they could run a server for it. Though with MS and Sony that won't really happen.

What if I want to play some army of two coop? I better get my friend to my house who lives 5 states away or something.
smoger's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:37
smoger
it's a shame they don't open source the server software(or at least release it publicly, even if the source is closed) when they take these things offline. i understand them not wanting to deal with it if its costing them money but it really sucks that consumers are losing a part of the game.

Quake came out in 1996 and I could go buy it on Steam and be playing online in no time.
SelfDestruct94's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:41
SelfDestruct94
this is why single player components of a game have to be good. when the company behind the title pulls the plug on the online portion, what's left should still be a good game.
n1zm0's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:47
n1zm0
Dedicated servers! get your head in gear gaming (*ahem console*) industry

i just realized i have a copy of army of two, better try it online for one last time
onomatapedalo's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 09:50
onomatapedalo
I do wonder, seeing that EA is obsessed with running their own servers and not using P2P-based systems, whether the gaming community should force Microsoft to remove the need to use Xbox Live to play EA games, which of course will make MS push EA to use Xbox's servers instead of their own, keeping their games online forever.

Alternatively, EA could release the server software (or at least, move it on community-paid servers) for their old games so that such support is never lost.
FPS Baby Jesus's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:07
FPS Baby Jesus
I'm not tryna be an asshole here, but I was expecting much worse from this list. Like Bad Company 1 or something. This isn't about forcing you to buy a sequel either. EA could have easily stopped Madden 10 the day Madden 11 stopped. If you look at the back of the case, I think EA actually states that this could happen. At least they did with the PS2 version. If only 1% of your player our playing these games, then you're wasting money. Its sucks, but that's how it works. I'm not a EA fan anymore, but I was ready to shit on them, but these games are all pretty irrelavant.
FPS Baby Jesus's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:11
FPS Baby Jesus
@KwikPwn do you really expect them to give roster updates to every games they make, even though a new game was released. This is EA first of all. Secondly, if all the rosters were the same, people would just not buy the new game. There's a difference between a company being nice and given their fans thing and a charity service.
NotoriousBIG420's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:38
NotoriousBIG420
Didn't Need for Speed Most Wanted come out like last year?
Corey Schaf's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:39
Corey Schaf
I never did have a problem with older titles being shutdown, but Tiger Woods 10 is far superior to the recent releases in that series. Disappointing
lAboMbA's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:48
lAboMbA
anybody bitching about this needs to cry harder.

I was lucky to get 2-3 years of Madden 08...and that was playing in on-line league on the PC. Games and features change and 99% of the people who play against others want to play what everyone else is playing...not against the cheap ass who just now bought a game in the 99 cent bin.
DGX Goggles's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 10:50
DGX Goggles
And this is why I never buy EA games on any platform other than the PC where any chance of them conning me out of my money can be negated by the community.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 11:40
Mr Andy Dixon
Well, that sucks. Thankfully I'm unaffected this time, but there goes any chance EA had at me buying a new copy of one of their old games...
SarahDot's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 11:58
SarahDot
What does the XBOX live subscription fee go to again?
RenegadePanda's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 12:26
RenegadePanda
I hate that EA forces you to use their servers, especially since they also force you to make an EA account to play them in the first place. Why not just use XBL like everyone else?
Occams electric toothbrush's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 12:35
Occams electric toothbrush
@Sarah: to maintaining and upgrading the xbla servers.
FireFox516's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 13:11
FireFox516
Just another reason why developers shouldn't have online-only Achievements.
CommanderMeaty's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 13:22
CommanderMeaty
I Dislike EA even more
CommanderMeaty's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 13:23
CommanderMeaty
well I still play Quake III
Gorescream's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 13:37
Gorescream
''I played Unreal Tournament the other day on my PC.

That game came out in 1999.

Fucking consoles.''

Words of wisdom!
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 13:58
pedrovay2003
This is why PC online gaming is nice -- custom servers.

Then again, every version of Phantasy Star Online has them, too.
Achromatis's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 14:03
Achromatis
"Online functionality should remain throughout the life-cycle of the console."

I agree with this completely.
Daynger777's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 14:23
Daynger777
Man that's fucked since Madden 10 is the only one I own and play frequently. Luckily I usually play same console.... but still sucks
the guy with the hat's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 15:11
the guy with the hat
After playing Battlefield 2 on Xbox 360 recently I don't think we are missing much. Plus, we have 3 coming soon!
Gaidenrider's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 17:04
Gaidenrider
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PC


Wat

Dedicated Servers Wat

Wat
kidable's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/13/2011 18:08
kidable
Everyone complaining about paying for Xbox Live and these games shutting down, remember! EA uses their own servers that they made that you access THROUGH Xbox Live. It's really EA's fault for this, not Microsoft. Just sayin'.
Rammstein's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/14/2011 02:03
Rammstein
Son of a motherfucking @$&*@#$*&.

I just recently looked through my Achievements and was thinking of revisiting some of the multiplayer ones for Army of Two. This makes me angry.

I recently revisited Burnout: Paradise and tried to play online(to get all the extra DLC achievements, which, coincidentally, are ALL online achievements), turns out, the 'EA Servers are OFFLINE'. This makes me angry.

This is something that's been happening for a while now, specifically on consoles and while I realize that running servers costs money but it's not too absurd to expect servers running for games in the CURRENT generation. Limit it to a single server, at least. Don't just take them all down.

I can see it now, some Publisher creates a 'Subscription' Service/Model that 'GUARANTEES SERVERS UP 100% OF THE TIME!' I could see Activision coming up with a 'Call of Duty Pass' so that you can play Call of Duty 1 online 4ever! ...Something that PC gamers have been enjoying for years now. You can still play Counter-Strike(1999), for God's sake.
Stinky's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/14/2011 06:07
Stinky
I won't buy EA. I can see the brick wall at the end of the tunnel for burnout paradise and BFBC2. And their origin bullshit combined with their online pass dump in the mouth means too bad. This was their plan all along and is the reason why they strong-armed MS to give them an exception with their policies.

Fuck EA, they're the worst.
RaginDude's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/14/2011 23:43
RaginDude
Console, console, console, console, console, oh! PC, console, console...
Cartr1dgeBased's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/22/2011 17:13
Cartr1dgeBased
so a year lease on a sports game yet at full-price? you got to be fucking kidding me....
i guess im done with sports games....
well i still have nfl 2k1 and mutant football and that's all i really need
Dragoonkin's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/12/2011 20:45
Dragoonkin
The worst part is, you can't play system link in Army of Two. So once this goes offline, there is literally no multi-system co-op available for Army of Two.

Which is sad, me and a friend loved to bust that game out to finish it in an afternoon once every year or so.
funkman009's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/17/2011 19:44
funkman009
Hacked Games
If you want people to buy your games every 12 months, earn their purchase by releasing innovative software. Don't try to weasle another purchase out of them by disabling/restricting features to only the most current releases.
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