EA-run Battlefield 3 servers disappearing on consoles

Official EA and DICE-run multiplayer servers for console versions of Battlefield 3 have nearly all been removed, requiring players to join in privately-operated matches, according to reports from the game's players.

Official Electronic Arts and DICE-run multiplayer servers for console versions of Battlefield 3 have nearly all been removed, requiring players to join in privately-operated matches, according to reports from the game's players.

EA began allowing players to rent out servers for the Xbox and PS3 versions of the game for $30 for 30 days — a fairly steep price to begin with. According to a number of Redditors (whose complaints were compiled by VentureBeat), those two platforms have seen a withdraw of "official" servers run by either EA or DICE since the private options were made available.

In an Ask me Anything Reddit thread, DICE community manager Daniel Matros responded to concerned fans, saying "There is only so much physical space and digital space where you can have servers. The community requested [a rental program] and we delivered."

When another commenter raised the same concerns, Matros added, "I've heard this for a while now and the feedback has gotten louder. This is definitely something I will raise when I get back into the studio tomorrow."

At the time of this writing, we weren't able to find a single official server on the 360 version of Battlefield 3. A handful were marked with {DICE}, a designation used to note servers hosted by the developer, but they do not appear to be genuine.