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EA taking a huge amount of multiplayer games offline next month

Battlefield 2, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Crysis 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and many more will lose online functionality June 30.

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Electronic Arts’ Online Services Updates page has added a long list of games that will lose online functionality come June 30.

Some of the notable games on the list include Battlefield 2 (PC), Battlefield 1942 (PC, Mac), Battlefield 2142 (PC, Mac), Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC, Mac), Crysis 2 (PC), Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PC), Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC, Mac), and Star Wars: Battlefront II (PC and PlayStation 2).

According to EA, the games are losing online functionality on June 30, a full month after the GameSpy shutdown. Crytek, for example, already confirmed that both Crysis and Crysis 2 will go offline May 31.

“Since GameSpy’s announcement, our teams have been working to evaluate options to keep services up and running,” EA said on its website. “Unfortunately, due to technical challenges and concerns about the player experience, we do not have a solution at this time. Online services for EA games on the GameSpy platform will be closed down at the end of June.

“We know some of these games are still fan favorites, including Battlefield 2, Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Command & Conquer games. We are still investigating community-supported options to preserve online functionality for these titles, such as multiplayer. Significant technical hurdles remain, and at this time we don’t have anything to announce.”

EA’s official Origin Twitter account also previously said that it was working on transitioning Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, and Battlefield Bad Company 2 to a different solution, but that there were still hurdles ahead. Bad Company 2 is not on the list of games losing online services.

Other companies affected by the May 31 GameSpy shutdown, like 2K and Rockstar, have said which games they’re transitioning to a different solution and which will go offline. Some games, like Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and Battlefield 1942 will live on thanks to GameRanger, which allows gamers to host their own servers for a wide range of computer games, including some being affected by the GameSpy shutdown.

Here’s the full list of EA games losing Online Services on June 30:

  • Battlefield 1942 for PC and Mac (including The Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WW2 expansions)

  • Battlefield 2 for PC (including Special Forces expansion)

  • Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for PlayStation 2

  • Battlefield 2142 for PC and Mac (including Northern Strike expansion)

  • Battlefield Vietnam for PC

  • Bejeweled (r) 2 for the Wii

  • Bulletstorm for PlayStation 3

  • Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for PC and Mac (including Kane's Wrath expansion)

  • Command & Conquer: Generals for PC and Mac (including Zero Hour expansion)

  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC and Mac

  • Crysis 2 for PC

  • Crysis for PC

  • Crysis Wars for PC

  • Dracula - Undead Awakening for the Wii

  • Dragon Sakura for Nintendo DS

  • EA Sports 06 for PC

  • F1 2002 for PC

  • FIFA Soccer 08 (KOR) for the Wii

  • FIFA Soccer 08 for Nintendo DS

  • FIFA Soccer 09 for Nintendo DS

  • FIFA Soccer 10 for Nintendo DS

  • FIFA Street 3 for Nintendo DS

  • Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers for PlayStation 2

  • Global Operations for PC

  • GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND for the Wii

  • James Bond: Nightfire for PC

  • Madden NFL 08 for Nintendo DS

  • Madden NFL 09 for Nintendo DS

  • Master of Orion III for PC

  • Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for PC and Mac (including Breakthrough and Spearhead expansions)

  • MySims Party for Wii

  • MySims Racing for Nintendo DS

  • MySims SkyHeroes for the Wii and DS

  • NASCAR Sim Racing for PC

  • NASCAR Thunder 2003 for PC

  • NASCAR Thunder 2004 for PC

  • Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for PC

  • Need for Speed: ProStreet for Nintendo DS

  • Need for Speed: Undercover for Nintendo DS

  • Neverwinter Nights 2 for PC and Mac

  • Neverwinter Nights for PC, Mac and Linux (including Hordes of the Underdark and Shadows of Undrentide expansions)

  • SimCity Creator for Wii

  • Skate It for Nintendo DS

  • Sneezies for the Wii

  • Spore Creatures for Nintendo DS

  • Spore Hero Arena for Nintendo DS

  • Star Wars: Battlefront for PC and PlayStation 2

  • Star Wars: Battlefront II for PC and PlayStation 2

  • THE BEATLES: ROCK BAND for the Wii

  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 for Nintendo DS

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Raxyman

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"Star Wars: Battlefront II for PC"
Funny thing is, May 4th held great deals at steam, and this was one there. Imagine anyone who bought it...


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deactivated-57bac25e99ee3

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Yep, I'm one of those people who bought Battlefront 2 in that sale :(

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starcrafthenry

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I bought a few Star Wars games last year during that sale. I tried Battlefront II on the PC, but I originally played those games on Xbox, so it just didn't feel right to me.

Also, I just read the other day that while this game is losing official online support, it will gain community servers through the use of GameRanger. It's less convenient than native support, but it's better than no online multiplayer at all.

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Blood_Angel

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Devs and publishers should take into consideration when making a game that if it wants to include online functionality, that that isn't going to affect the game in any huge way, and why don't they split some games up, so that you can buy the multiplayer only or the single player game.

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> gamespy have been around for many many years I guess they did not think it would get shut down.. 14 years looking into it.

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> It's been around longer than 14 years and it's pretty amazing it even lasted that long considering how terrible it was in the Rainbow Six days.

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smokeless_0225

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Wow...talk about cleaning house. Most of these games I'm assuming not many people play anymore. I've kind of been meaning to try out Bulletstorm for the PS3 but never got around to it. Doubt I will now. Based on the reviews I guess I won't be missing much.

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DETfaninATL

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The MP in it was actually fantastic. A lot of fun and it really forced you to work as a team if you wanted to score big. Really, really fun SP & MP....

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Raxyman

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<< LINK REMOVED >>i agree with << LINK REMOVED >>, dunno about MP, but the SP was great, a very good arcade shooter.

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starcrafthenry

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I never played the multiplayer in that game, so I can't speak for it. However, I enjoyed the single player very much. Everything was over the top, especially the dialogue.

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blackothh

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So the venerable Battlefield 2 finally falls.....a sad day indeed =(

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Avatar image for grenadehh
Grenadehh

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Why give the people the option to play the last good BF game when your current title is a giant failure or epic proportions?

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blackothh

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>my bigger question is why does the general gaming public reward the suit and tie companys for garbage games?


Im not sure who I dislike more.

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Ripper_TV

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Another day, another woe.

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deactivated-597794cd74015

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I wonder if Gameranger will support any of these like they started supporting Halo and CIV 4

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EG-Mist

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wow here come all the online game haters. years and years of waiting, now finally you got something to hate on lol. the only thing this really tells use is. games where the user can not host on there end have a limited online life. like every other product you buy has a limited use life.

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Ripper_TV

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*king bastar*s!

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howiex89

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phew no titanfalll

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Ripper_TV

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Was a close one.

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Aquoon_0nly

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Red alert 3 for pc and mac, and the ps3, xbox version?

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dribblesbarbax

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Sneezies for the Wii? Nooooo!!!!

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Ripper_TV

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<< LINK REMOVED >> For someone it was bad, is it that hard to imagine? No need for sarcasm.

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dribblesbarbax

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Maybe I'm being serious. Is that too hard to imagine? No need for baseless assumptions.

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Martyr77

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This is why digital only or online games are TERRIBLE. Physical and fully fleshed games are the only ones that last forever. Vote with your wallet.

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Zombrex

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Nothing lasts forever. Eventually your physical copy of games will stop working or your hardware will cease to function. As long as you get what you can out of a game while you have it, it will have served its purpose.

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EG-Mist

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no EA is terrible
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charlesolmed

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Sorry, but maybe I am missing something? Both physical and digital versions will loose their online services, so what's the difference in this case?

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Grenadehh

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Last time I checked they both will stop working when the power goes out.

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SeanBattle

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I'm glad you pointed that out.

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Raxyman

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>Everybody is.

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Hurvl

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Good thing I never play MP games, because with my backlog I wouldn't be able to play most games and that's disregarding the dwindling playerbase a few years after release.

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CommandoAgent

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I used play BF2 you know what kept the game alive? MODS! :(

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Hurvl

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>You know what gave me such a big backlog in the first place? MODS!

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NorthernDruid

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This is why online only games would be a bad thing...

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Zombrex

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@NorthernDruid Online only is never a bad idea. If the game is good enough it will live on forever at least on PC. Ultima Online is still an incredibly popular game thanks to private servers like In Por Ylem(R.I.P.) and now UO An Corp. And that came out 17 years ago(Still the greatest MMO I've ever played).

The only real hurdle is the threat of lawsuits from the publishers, but most don't want to waste the money to shut the servers down.

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BMXBiker

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<< LINK REMOVED >> because they only provide 10 years of fun?

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Martyr77

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> LOL you make it sound like 10 years is long enough. We want to be able to play good games for the rest of our lives. I still play games that are over 15 year old.

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starcrafthenry

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> They were specifically talking about online only games, ie Titanfall, or Counter Strike.

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smokeless_0225

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Yes but how many of those 10-15+ year old games are still worth playing online? You can still play these games....just not online.

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NorthernDruid

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>Yes

I want to be able to replay my games more than 10 years from now, like I do with my current 10+ year old games.

I expect to live for at least 50 more years. I will want to keep playing and replaying my games up until the day I die. If that includes games which are no longer playable because they needed to connect to a server which is no longer running then that is kinda detrimental to the replayability of such games.

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Wicked869

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And yet another reason I don't play online games.

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quakke

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Didn't know Hot Pursuit 2 even still had people? Never tried the online play.


So basically now there is only one real NFS game online anymore, Shift 1. Others are kinda the Call of Duty of Racing games, Burnout Nitro crashing. Last time NFS has been NFS was with Shift1 and before that it was that Hot Pursuit 2 that they just shut down.

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Most Wanted is pretty amazing.

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jjleshko90

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MoH, BF1942, BF2, SW:B, NN, NN2, Rock Bands, Crysis... weren't these games advertised as playable online?

Wasn't a big part of the marketing... that buyers could play these games... online?

And isn't it relatively easy to put server back online, considering the average joe can put up his own server for some of these games?


Could you imagine if these were digital download only games, and that you could no longer play them?


Well, then, DO NOT SUPPORT online-only purchases unless you want your games eventually sucked away from you. What you need is a PHYSICAL COPY OF THE GAME.


This is completely unacceptable. I paid full-price for all of the BFs, MoHs, Rock Bands, and now I can't play online. GG to the internet.


Remember when the internet was AOL? How about now? Didn't y'all think that your AOL emails would be around forever, only to now have them... gone?


PLEASE, DO NOT SUPPORT BUYING GAMES DIGITALLY. REQUEST REFUNDS FOR THESE GAMES THAT YOU PURCHASED, WHICH YOU CAN NO LONGER PLAY TO THE EXTENT THAT WAS PUT ON THE BOX.

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dlCHIEF58

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

And you are complaining about the worst selling and version of the Rock Band franchise? You obviously bought it for the wrong console. Besides that, the loss of online capabilities is NOT EA'a doing or even Gamespy shutdown in this case - it is because Nintendo is ending online support for the Wii.

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deactivated-5a1d4b615a3a3

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<< LINK REMOVED >> You do realise that there is a big difference between having the online component of a game disabled and having your digital purchases removed from your account. All of these games are having the online component disabled but it wont affect your ability to play the games in single player mode (whether bought digitally or at retail). The only games that will become unusable after this are those that are online MP only.


If you are going to moan about the future that is digital distribution, at least learn what it is.

4 • 
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PrpleTrtleBuBum

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I dunno. If I can't play the game I rather have a digital download I can just delete than have paperweight plastic that I need to throw out into the nature.

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