Electronic Arts has announced that it will be shutting down the online servers for several EA Sports games in February, most because of their age but at least a few, apparently, because they suck.
25 games from a wide range of franchises and platforms will get the ax on February 2, although EA warned that related services such as “certain community programs” may be taken down before that date. The full list of games losing server support is as follows:
- UEFA Champions League 07 PC and x360
- Facebreaker x360 and PS3
- Fantasy Football 09 x360 and PS3
- FIFA 07 PSP, PS2, PC
- Fight Night Round 3 PS2
- Madden 08 Wii
- Madden 08 PC
- Madden 09 Xbox1
- Madden 09 Wii and PSP
- March Madness 07 x360
- NBA 07 PSP, x360
- NBA 08 PS2, PSP, Wii
- NBA 09 Wii – Europe only
- NBA Street (2007) PS3 and x360
- NCAA Football 08 PS2
- NCAA Football 09 PS2
- NASCAR 08 PS2
- NASCAR 09 PS2
- NASCAR 09 PS3 and x360 – Europe Only
- NFL Tour PS3 and x360
- NHL 07 PSP and x360
- NHL 08 PC
- Tiger Woods 07 PC
- Madden 09 x360 and PS3
- Madden 07 Xbox 360
EA claimed in the announcement that the shutdown would affect “some older titles” but there are an awful lot of ’08 and ’09 games in that list, not exactly what you’d call long in the tooth. Some of the shutdowns are fairly obvious – the European NASCAR servers, for instance, and I don’t think many tears will be shed over the demise of Facebreaker – but a few are rather surprising, the mighty Madden series foremost among them. An occasional housecleaning is one thing, but pulling the plug on Madden 09 barely a month into 2010 somehow seems a bit more ominous. The full announcement can be read at ea.com.
