It turns out that the money raised from online passes is not being put towards server maintenance after all. EA has basically squashed that theory by announcing that it is closing down the online portion of EA Sports MMA – a title which less than 18 months ago required an online pass for multiplayer gameplay.
EA reckons that the closures will affect less than 1% of its player base, but even if that statistic is true, it sets a pretty worrying precedent for the future of online games.
Below is a list of all the titles headed for the chop. Will you be affected?
April 13, 2012 — Online Services Shutdown
BOOM BLOX Bash Party for Wii
Burnout™ Revenge for Xbox 360
EA Create for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360
EA Sports Active 2.0 for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360
EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp for Wii
FIFA 10 for PlayStation Portable and Wii
The Godfather™ II for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
MMA for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Need for Speed™ ProStreet for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
The Saboteur™ (loss of The Midnight Club access) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Spare Parts for PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
[source ea.com]
Comments 4
None of them will affect me, but it's disappointing.
I've actually been in favour of the Online Pass, but this shows that it is a flawed system. Well actually, no it doesn't. What this shows is that publishers are able to abuse it.
I think this shows that games which require an online pass should come with a guarantee that any servers they use will be guaranteed to remain online for at least 2 or 3 years. Hopefully the industry will do something about this themselves, because if they don't, I can see there being many, many complaints - and perhaps, eventually, the need for some kind of independent industry watchdog/regulator to ensure people aren't getting ripped off.
EA games (Evil Antichrist games).
I dont agree with most of their tactics espcially this one but EA sure knows how to market its products to appeal to a mass audience.
I fail to see why server shutdowns should affect access to single-player DLC for Saboteur. Seriously, that makes NO sense whatsoever. But I finished my Plat on that ages ago and have no particular intention to replay, so whatever. No sense trying to understand these guys anyway.
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