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 Take
It’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.