The lights are on
Sony is preparing to “sunset” a number of online multiplayer experiences in 2014. If you’ve got an itch for some Resistance trilogy multiplayer, you’d best get it in over the next couple of months.
The plug will be pulled on different dates for the affected games. On January 28, 2014, MAG, SOCOM: Special Forces, and SOCOM: Confrontation will be turned off. MAG and SOCOM: Confrontation do not have offline modes and will be rendered useless.
On March 28, 2014, all three Resistance titles go offline. Their campaigns will still function as normal, though.
Finally, on May 20, 2014, Gran Turismo 5 will lose its multiplayer functionality. By then, you’ll have Driveclub on the PS4 and, of course, Gran Turismo 6 on PS3.
You may have also noticed that downloadable title Pain is no longer compatible with online play. That game was sunset on November 26, 2013.
[Source: Sony via Joystiq]
Our TakeIt’s never fun to write these stories, as most of the games in question still have communities. Unfortunately, it’s part of the business. When a game’s player base is in sharp decline, the cost of maintaining the servers becomes more expensive than any good will that might be lost by the move.
I’m interested to see if Microsoft’s cloud and its more flexible scalability combat sunsetting. If so, we might see other platform holders move in that direction to save money on server expenses and retain good will.
thus is the story of online consoles. nintendo is mostly spared because a large number of games weren't online. as an aging console gamer, I'm aware of the pain. dreamcast, ps2, xbox original, even the gamecube all lost their online. now there's going to be more games never to be fully enjoyed again.
Well this is sad, I enjoyed MAG's MP during the time I had it. Resistance 1 and 3 MP were both really fun experiences. 2 was as well but I feel like it got a little too crazy sometimes with all the players.
Always sucks to see online capabilities for games to be shut down. There are usually people who play the online games for a while.
This sucks, I've been having up to 7 friends over and been playing Resistance 2 coop. It was awesome, we had multiple TVs and systems. Only if it supported LAN play. Guess I'll have no use for the extra copies. Don't careuch about the first and third but I was thinking about playing the 3rds campaign online with a friend who just recently got a PS3 so it still kind of sucks. And while I don't have Gran Turismo 5 I must say that it sucks to not be able to play a racing game online. Hopefully Motorstorm: Apocalypse doesn't lose its online, I still play that racing game. Why can't all games just support LAN play in case if things like this happen? Oh well...
I wish they would come of with some service to maintain online games such as xlink kai or xbconnect that lets servers stay up for infinity. Although unrealistic, I hope it's the trend for future last gen consoles. I do hope that the consoles last way over 3 years before completely shutting down servers and hopefully not rendering your console useless. Especially in regards to downloadable games.
I tried to trade in my copy of MAG a few months back and GameStop wouldn't even take it.lol Just for this very reason. There's nobody really playing it online anymore. I loved that game too,regardless of how much people ripped on it. That's definitely something I'd like to see a sequel for. But I suppose Planetside 2 would pretty much replace any need for that game now. As for the Resistance games,I can understand why those would be shutdown. Those weren't really being played much and the only way to find a decent game was usually unranked matches. The SOCOM games? They stopped being great after 2. Maybe 3...MAYBE 3. But Confrontation seemed a little messy,though it was pretty much taking the best maps from the previous games and putting them in one game with more graphics. That's the closest anyone could get to an actual SOCOM game outside of the PS2/PSP since SOCOM 4 turned into a Gears of War knockoff. I do miss Confrontation though. All these games are old though,so it makes sense that the servers would be shutdown to pave the way for servers for new games. Gran Turismo 5 seems a bit soon though...but I guess 6 makes up for that.
Good luck getting those multiplayer trophies/achievements if these games have them.
What's SOCOM: Special Forces? Do they mean SOCOM 4?
... I don't know why I asked that. I don't care about any of these. Sunset away, Sony.
To the gamers who enjoy these titles though, have at multiplayer while you can.
Why can't they just patch these games to support hosted sessions? That way, the multiplayer survives while the companies save money by not having to maintain dedicated servers.