Several Need for Speed Titles Getting Delisted Today, Will Be Taken Offline in August

[Tsing]

Image: EA



EA has warned Need for Speed fans that numerous titles in the popular racing franchise are being delisted from digital storefronts beginning today on May 31, 2021. They include Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed, and Need for Speed The Run. The online multiplayer of these games will also be shut down on August 31, 2021, but their single-player modes will be unaffected. EA justified the decision by suggesting that nobody really plays these games online anymore.





















Decisions to retire games are never made easy, but we are now shifting gears to focus on the future of Need for Speed. The development teams and operational staff have put a lot of time and passion into the development, creation, release and upkeep of the game over the years, and we love to see you play...

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[AntiQuark]

This is strange.
Granted, hardware changes mean updates will be needed if modern hardware is to be used, why remove it though?
They dont need to do anything to keep selling as it is for very little outlay online, for older hardware.
There will always be a subset of hardware owners with old kit that want to maintain their use.
Cutting off availability of games from that era promotes piracy, thats the only avenue left to get the game!

Rather than let this become the norm it would be much better to have a yearly inventory of games on sale based on year of development with descriptions of issues that apply to newer hardware and from what year.
Then they will not only cease pushing people toward piracy but can still make money.
Laziness at the extreme, they deserve the problems they cause.

 

[Denpepe]

Might give GoG something new to pick up, I don't realy care never played a need for speed game in my life.

As for people collecting old/vintage games they usually want physical copies so removing it from a digital storefront wont do much for those.

As long as you can keep playing what you bought, it's all fine with me.

 

[Grimlakin]

We all know there will be hosted servers now that ea has left the market.

 

[Paul_Johnson]

Might give GoG something new to pick up, I don't realy care never played a need for speed game in my life.

As for people collecting old/vintage games they usually want physical copies so removing it from a digital storefront wont do much for those.

As long as you can keep playing what you bought, it's all fine with me.

Honestly I do love GOG. Got a lot of classic games that I unfortuantely gave up the media for, lost, or no longer work with the original media on Windows 10 that I have gotten there.

 

[MadMummy76]

I expected they will be delisted because the music licensing deals expire, but this is pure laziness and disregard.
"Doesn't matter that we made hundreds of millions on these games, we can't be bothered to spend a few pennies a day to keep them working"

 

[MadMummy76]

Might give GoG something new to pick up, I don't realy care never played a need for speed game in my life.

As for people collecting old/vintage games they usually want physical copies so removing it from a digital storefront wont do much for those.

As long as you can keep playing what you bought, it's all fine with me.

Digital preservation is important, physical copies still activate online and they don't include patches, so even if you get a physical copy you cannot use it unless the activation servers and patches are still online. I can't play my copies of some physical games without nocd patches and cracks, and can't install dlcs that I legitimately purchased for them.

 

[Denpepe]

Digital preservation is important, physical copies still activate online and they don't include patches, so even if you get a physical copy you cannot use it unless the activation servers and patches are still online. I can't play my copies of some physical games without nocd patches and cracks, and can't install dlcs that I legitimately purchased for them.

People complained to Sony about them shutting down certain parts of their stores and they reversed course, so if enough people complain they may do the same.