Electronic Arts, more commonly known as EA, is shutting down four video games in October. And once it shuts them down, they will stay shut down, forever. The good news is that three of these four games are hardly relevant as they are older sports games. The fourth game though is more relevant, especially for racing fans. Meanwhile, the shutdowns are set to be scattered as opposed to all coming at once.
The first shutdown is coming on October 6, and it will be NHL 21. This is not very relevant for obvious reasons. The next shutdown will be more relevant though. And it comes a day later. On October 7, EA will shut down Need for Speed Rivals, the 2013 installment in the long-running and popular racing game series. Notably, Need for Speed Rivals is the 20th installment in the Need for Speed series, and the first from Ghost Games, which briefly took reigns of the series from Criterion Games in the 2010s. In the legacy of Need for Speed games, it is often viewed as a middle-level entry. Not the best, not the worst. This is evident by its Metacritic score range of 75 to 80.
After this, on October 20, Madden NFL 22 will shut down and then on October 30 the series of shutdowns will complete with the shutdown of FIFA 23. In the case of all these games, this will impact all platforms, which means PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo users will all be impacted. This includes last-gen machines like Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, as well as current-gen machines, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Per usual, EA does not disclose its reasons for any of the shutdowns. That said, between licensing involved and server maintenance, these four games were never long for this world. And once these games shutdown, they will not return. Need for Speed Rivals could, one day, when it is older and more nostalgic return with a re-release or a remaster, but there is no guarantee this will happen. The sports games, meanwhile, will be as good as dead. Until then though, all online functionality continues to work for each game, and each can be purchased from various digital storefronts.
For more coverage on all things Electronic Arts — including the latest news on EA games, the latest rumors and leaks on EA games, and the latest deals on EA games — click here.
Source link
