Offline Gaming: EA Announces Latest Cull
Nothing lasts forever. Entropy takes care of that. (Except for Radio 4's Money Box Live, which exists outside the boundaries of physics and is eternally on my bloody radio.) But some things are more short-lived than you might be expecting. EA have announced the latest round of their games to have their online support removed, and there's some recent stuff in there. FIFA Manager 10 is to go, along with FIFA 09. That's on PC, with a raft of 09 and 10 dated games on the consoles also losing their support. Some older games are going too, including both The Lord Of The Rings: The Battle For Middle-Earth games (2004 and 2006) having already shut down on New Year's Eve, and 2008's The Sims Carnival going on the 17th. EA stresses that this represents only 1% of their online players, and point out that it's a lot of work and money to keep these games going. To see the full list of games that are going, across all formats, look below.
Was anyone still playing Battle For Middle-Earth? Or last year's FIFA Manager? With titles as recent as 14 months old, it does ask some serious questions about what you're actually paying for.
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