EA culls online support for multiple titles

Electronic Arts has announced plans to shut down a significant number of servers for online multiplayer titles – including games released for the current generation of home consoles.

Revealing that those facing the cull make up less than 0.3 per cent of all peak online players across EA titles, the publisher will flick the switch on March 16 and again on April 15.

"Despite some people's perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running," said the company. "We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99.7 per cent of customers playing our more popular games."

Games included in the first wave include PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles Def Jam Icon, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings: Conquest and The Simpsons Game. Need for Speed: Carbon and NFS: ProStreet on the PSP will also lose online support, as will the PC version of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

"These decisions to retire games is never easy. The EA 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," added EA.

A number of other titles will lose support on April 16 when Microsoft switches off online play for its first-generation Xbox titles and Xbox Originals sold over Xbox Live, including Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Madden NFL 09.

Microsoft said earlier in the month that the decision to switch off the original Xbox Live wasn't an easy one, but it was necessary to upgrade the service for Xbox 360 players. Developer Bungie, who's Halo games still see high levels of traffic on the service, said it was "saddened" by the move.

Electronic Arts is slowly shifting its traditional publishing business to take advantage of online business opportunities.

The recently revealed "Project Ten Dollar" initiative gives away additional content for first-time purchases of titles such as Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, but those that buy the games second hand are charged an additional $10 if they want to access the downloadable content.

Without online support, any consumers buying second hand copies of the games singled out today for retirement will also see significant features of the game missing.