Many gamers are reacting with disappointment and sadness after Electronic Arts (EA) announced it will be shutting down online multiplayer for several of its most popular games. The company made the decision to decommission servers for some of its oldest titles, citing a combination of declining viewership, waning interest, and competitive pressures as the primary reasons.
The games set to be affected by the cut, many of which were released more than 10 years ago, are titles such as Mass Effect 3, FIFA 12, FIFA 14, Fight Night Round 4, Madden 11, NBA Jam and several others. The shutdown of support for these titles isn’t actually new – some of them already officially lacked online multiplayer three years ago – but the sudden cut has come as a shock to many fans who held on until this point.
EA is looking to focus on its newer titles for the foreseeable future, specifically Battlefield V and Apex Legends. The company has promised to continue to provide support for those games, even as older titles suffer. Additionally, EA also said that while it may be shutting down servers, its games are still possible to enjoy via local races and splitscreen competitions, though these do not provide the same level of precision and connectivity that online multiplayer can.
The timing of EA’s decision to shutter online multiplayer support for fan-favorite games could not be more inconvenient – many of the impacted titles, such as FIFA 14, were trending again as gamers sought solace from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the games are no longer able to act as a dynamic form of entertainment, fans have little choice but to look elsewhere.
It’s worth noting that other gaming companies have recently made similar decisions. In 2020, Activision Blizzard shut down servers for two Call of Duty titles, COD 4: Modern Warfare and COD: Modern Warfare 2, while Bandai Namco did the same for a pair of Tekken games.
For gaming fans, news of EA shutting down online multiplayer for more fan-favorite games is deeply disappointing. The company had a responsibility to ensure that older titles still had a heartbeat, and so the company’s decision to cut off support can only be seen as a betrayal. That said, the silver lining here is that titles such as FIFA 14 still provide entertainment via local races and split screen – though, for many, it won’t be the same.
