Author Topic: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected  (Read 1926 times)

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Offline GamerMan316

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EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« on: March 19, 2012, 08:06:56 AM »
EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
Support for Burnout Revenge, EA Sports Active, The Saboteur and more cut

EA has revealed it will be shutting down online servers for a handful of its titles, some of which required a paid Online Pass to access.

From April 13 the online components of Burnout Revenge, The Godfather II, FIFA 10, MMA, The Saboteur and Need for Speed ProStreet will no longer be accessible.

EA Sports Active, EA Create and recently released XBLA title Spare Parts will also lose online support. You can check out the full list of impacted games on the official EA service updates page.

According to Beefjack, EA says just one percent of its total player base is playing the affected titles and this lack of activity has been cited as the reason for the closures.

"As games get replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the older games dwindles to a level - fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles - where it's no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these games up and running," reads the official statement.

"We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games."

The move might make sense for the publisher, but it's unlikely that those who've paid money for an Online Pass in games like EA Sports MMA will see it from the same perspective. Are you playing any of these games and if so, how do you feel about this?

Full List:

    BOOM BLOX Bash Party for Wii
    Burnout™ Revenge for Xbox 360
    EA Create for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360
    EA Sports Active 2.0 for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360
    EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp for Wii
    FIFA 10 for PlayStation Portable and Wii
    The Godfather™ II for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
    MMA for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
    Need for Speed™ ProStreet for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
    The Saboteur™ (loss of The Midnight Club access) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
    Spare Parts for PlayStation 3 Xbox 360


Offline nCogNeato

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2012, 09:55:27 AM »
Quote from: http://beefjack.com/news/ea-announce-server-shutdowns-online-pass-games-affected/
Worse are the games that required the purchase of EA’s Online Pass. EA Sports MMA – a high-profile release that only came out 18 months ago – featured the system, and it’s sure to be a tough blow to people who specifically paid extra to access these features. One fan voiced their discontent on the official forums: “Wait, I am slightly confused because you went way out of the way to justify your “Online Pass” crap as being there to support the online servers (since those dirty second hand purchasers didn’t invest in supporting those servers).

“Now you are telling me that you are going to shut down the online service for a game that started the joke that is your “Online Pass” service,” they continued, “So please explain to me exactly how was the “Online Pass” not nothing more than a money grab? And exactly how are you justifying shutting these servers down again?”

They’ve got a valid point, especially if you look over to the official Online Pass website. EA Sports senior vice president Andrew Wilson is quoted saying: “We want to reserve EA SPORTS online services for people who pay EA to access them. In return, we’ll continue to invest in creating great games and offer industry-leading online services to extend the game experience to everyone.

“I don’t think even the harshest cynic can argue with that and instead I think fans will see the value we’re committing to deliver when they see all the services, features and bonus content that is extending the life of their products.”

Extend the game experience to everyone. Extending the life of their products. Extend. The evidence isn’t exactly supporting that point, and when people are already skeptical about the consumer benefits of Online Pass, news like this doesn’t help EA’s case.

F*ck EA's temporary servers.  If you're going to charge an additional fee for online access, that fee should justify keeping the servers open at least through the lifespan of the platform.


Offline zerosum

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2012, 11:17:21 PM »
Online Passes always seemed like such a hack to me and feel like a band-aid on a stomach ache.

Offline GamerMan316

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2012, 06:42:02 AM »
EA Sports Server Shutdowns Hit FIFA 11, NBA Jam and More

Online support for a number of 2010 EA Sports titles is set to end next month.

The servers for FIFA 11, NBA Jam, Madden NFL 11, NCAA Football 11 and NHL 11 are to be shut down on January 11th, 2013.

Following the shutdowns, online play will not be supported and any related achievements will be unobtainable.

"The decisions to retire older EA games are never easy," said EA. "The development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired.

"But as games get replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the older games dwindles to a level - fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles - where it's no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these games up and running.

"We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage."


Offline nCogNeato

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2012, 10:44:21 AM »
It's a problem EA creates, and could be easily remedied.  EA wants to monopolize control by using their own servers, when they could easily just release control to peer networking.  If someone wants to play, they can play if they can find someone else to play with.  It just pisses me off how short-term EA's customer consideration is.

Offline nCogNeato

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2012, 10:48:01 AM »
Do we know if NBA Jam: On Fire Edition will be affected, or just the retail NBA Jam?

Offline nCogNeato

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Re: EA closing servers, Online Pass games affected
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2013, 11:55:41 AM »
Do we know if NBA Jam: On Fire Edition will be affected, or just the retail NBA Jam?

Confirmed NBA Jam: On Fire Edition will not be shutdown, making it the only surviving EA basketball game with online support.

 

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