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EA Announces Latest Waves Of Server Shutdowns
EA periodically kills support for online multiplayer in older or less popular games, and they've announced the latest casualties. The Xbox 360 version of The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II joins its deceased PC counterpart next week, and games like NHL 09 and EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 are slated to expire in February.
The company says on its site that decisions like this aren't made lightly. "As background information, the EA SPORTS games scheduled for shutdown in February and March 2011 represent roughly 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles. Despite some people's perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running. We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games. These decisions to retire games is never easy. The development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage."
Here's the list of scheduled server shutdowns, as well as a recap of what's already been killed:
Mar 1, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for Wii
Feb 8, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
FIFA 07 for Xbox 360
FIFA 08 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 Ultimate Team for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
FIFA Street 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
EA SPORTS FIFA Manager 10 for PC
EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Madden 09 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
Madden 10 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2 and Wii
NBA LIVE 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 09 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
NCAA Basketball 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Basketball 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 07 for Xbox 360
NCAA Football 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 2
NFL Head Coach 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
UEFA EURO 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
2010 FIFA World Cup for PlayStation Portable and Wii
2010 FIFA World Cup Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Jan 17, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
The Sims Carnival
Jan 11, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II for Xbox 360
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king for Xbox 360
Dec 31, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth for PC
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II for PC
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king for PC
Previously Shut Down Online Service
Arena Football for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Arena Football: Road to Glory for PlayStation 2
Armies of Exigo for PC
Army of Two for PlayStation 3 (Asia only)
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for Xbox
Burnout Revenge for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Burnout Dominator for PlayStation Portable
Burnout 3: Takedown for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Def Jam for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
EA SPORTS Fantasy Football 09 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 2 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Xbox
FIFA Soccer 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
FIFA 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
FIFA 07 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
FIFA 08 for PC
Facebreaker for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
The Godfather The Game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
MVP Baseball 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Madden NFL 05 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Madden NFL 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
Madden NFL 07 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
Madden NFL 08 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox and Xbox 360
Madden NFL 09 for Xbox
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects™ for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault for PC
Medal of Honor Rising Sun for PlayStation 2
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames for PC
NASCAR 05: Chase for the Cup for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NASCAR 06: Total Team Control for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NASCAR 07 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox and Xbox 360
NASCAR 08 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NASCAR 09 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Europe Only)
NBA LIVE 05 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NBA LIVE 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 07 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 08 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii
NBA LIVE 09 for Wii (Europe only)
NBA Street (2007) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NBA Street V3 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA Football 05 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA Football 06 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA Football 07 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Xbox
NCAA Football 08 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA Football 09 for PlayStation 2
NCAA March Madness 06 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA March Madness 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA March Madness 07 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360
Need for Speed Carbon for PlayStation Portable
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PlayStation Portable and Xbox
Need for Speed ProStreet for PlayStation Portable
Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
NFL STREET 2: Unleashed for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NFL STREET 3 for PlayStation 2
NFL Tour for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NHL 06 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NHL 07 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
NHL 08 for PC
NHL 08 for PlayStation 2
The Simpsons Game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 05 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 for PC, PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
TimeSplitters 3: Future Perfect for Xbox and PlayStation 2
Total Club Manager 06 for PlayStation 2
UEFA Champions League 2004-2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable
UEFA Champions League 07 for PC and Xbox 360
UEFA Euro 2008 for PC
2006 FIFA World Cup for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
2010 FIFA World Cup for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (only Hospitality upload functionality retired)
When you buy a new game, do you have an expectation that you'll be able to play it online forever? Will any of these shutdowns affect you personally?
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