Electronic Artswill be shutting down the online services for four more of its games in early 2023.Electronic Artsand other companies have been shutting down online services for older games in recent years, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to stop at any point in the near future.
On October 20, EA will be shutting down the online services forArmy of Two: The 40th DayandArmy of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. Then on November 9, online services forCommand & Conquer: Red Alert 3,Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, andCommand & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath, andMercenaries 2: World in Flamesare all being shut down. The end of November will seeOnrushservers shut down, with the game’s online capabilities ending November 30.
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After these shutdowns take place, the next date that fans should mark down is Jun 25, 2025. On that day, four more EA games will lose their online services:Gatling Gears, theoriginalMirror’s Edge,NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, andShank 2. According to TrueAchievements, twoNBA Jamachievements will become impossible to earn after this point, so achievement hunters may want to move it to the top of their list while they still can.
It’s unlikely that theserver shutdownsfor these games are going to cause major issues for players, but it’s still a disappointing development. It should be pointed out as well that not all of these games have online multiplayer functionality, but rather other kinds of online services. For example, in the case of the 2008Mirror’s Edgegame, fans won’t be losing access to any online multiplayer modes, but they will be losing access to the online leaderboards.
It’s unknown at this point if any of these server shutdowns will coincide with the game’s being delisted or not.EA has delisted many of its gamesin the past, though that’s usually due to expiring licenses in sports and racing games. It’s unlikely that will be a factor for these particular games, so fans shouldn’t necessarily have to worry about them being delisted, but it’s still something to keep an eye on for anyone that is interested in playing these games but has yet to get around to it.
Online service shutdowns for olderPlayStation 3 and Xbox 360-era gameswill likely continue in the months ahead as the vast majority of players have moved on to modern platforms. For now, fans of EA’s games can keep the aforementioned removal dates on their minds and plan their gaming sessions accordingly.
