:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32905707/Battlefield2_02.0.jpg)
Fifty EA titles across numerous franchises and platforms — including Battlefield 2 and Crysis 2 for PC — affected by the upcoming termination of GameSpy's hosting services will go offline on June 30, according to the company's official blog.
GameSpy Technology, a service that provides multiplayer functionality like leaderboards and matchmaking to many titles, announced in April that it would shutdown hosting services as of May 31. An EA spokesperson told Polygon that it "worked with GameSpy for an extension of online services on EA titles until the end of June to give our players more time to enjoy the online features as we investigate community-supported options".
The shutdown impacts the online capabilities of some older EA titles and EA has been evaluating options to keep services up and running, according to the blog post. However, online services for the games will be closed down at the end of June as the company does not currently have a solution due to technical challenges and concerns about the player experience.
"We know some of these games are still fan favorites, including Battlefield 2, Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Command & Conquer games," the blog post reads. "We are still investigating community-supported options to preserve online functionality for these titles, such as multiplayer. Significant technical hurdles remain, and at this time we don't have anything to announce."
According to a service update on EA's support page, the GameSpy list includes games evaluated to have low numbers of peak online players. These will be kept offline to free up resources, allowing EA's engineering and IT teams to "focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99 percent of customers playing our more popular games."
"But as games get replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the older games dwindles to a level — typically fewer than 1 percent 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," the statement reads.
It was previously stated that Crysis, Crysis 2, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Star Wars: Empire at War - Gold Pack, also listed below, will cease official online operations when GameSpy shuts down. However, it was confirmed recently that free Mac and Windows PC program GameRanger will keep Star Wars: Battlefront 2 multiplayer running after May 31.
EA said in April that it is working on transitioning Battlefield 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 2142 after the shut down to prevent ending online multiplayer support. We have reached out to EA for an update.
The titles scheduled to go offline on June 30 are listed in full below. Free-to-play browser-based game Lord of Ultima will cease operations on May 12, as will free iOS title World Series of Yahtzee on Oct. 30. More information about player accounts and the shutdown of the services is located on the official EA help page.
Update: "We are still investigating community-supported options to preserve online functionality for these titles, such as multiplayer," an EA spokesperson told Polygon regarding Battlefield 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 2142. "Significant technical hurdles remain, and at this time we don't have anything to announce."
Update 2: This article has been updated with additional comments from an EA spokesperson.
The full list of titles scheduled to go offline on June 30 follows:
- Battlefield 1942 for PC and Mac (including The Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WW2 expansions)
- Battlefield 2 for PC (including Special Forces expansion)
- Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for PlayStation 2
- Battlefield 2142 for PC and Mac (including Northern Strike expansion)
- Battlefield Vietnam for PC
- Bejeweled 2 for the Wii
- Bulletstorm for PlayStation 3
- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for PC and Mac (including Kane's Wrath expansion)
- Command & Conquer: Generals for PC and Mac (including Zero Hour expansion)
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC and Mac
- Crysis 2 for PC
- Crysis for PC
- Crysis Wars for PC
- Dracula - Undead Awakening for the Wii
- Dragon Sakura for Nintendo DS
- EA Sports 06 for PC
- F1 2002 for PC
- FIFA Soccer 08 (KOR) for the Wii
- FIFA Soccer 08 for Nintendo DS
- FIFA Soccer 09 for Nintendo DS
- FIFA Soccer 10 for Nintendo DS
- FIFA Street 3 for Nintendo DS
- Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers for PlayStation 2
- Global Operations for PC
- Green Day: Rock Band for the Wii
- James Bond: Nightfire for PC
- Madden NFL 08 for Nintendo DS
- Madden NFL 09 for Nintendo DS
- Master of Orion 3 for PC
- Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for PC and Mac (including Breakthrough and Spearhead expansions)
- MySims Party for Wii
- MySims Racing for Nintendo DS
- MySims SkyHeroes for the Wii and DS
- NASCAR Sim Racing for PC
- NASCAR Thunder 2003 for PC
- NASCAR Thunder 2004 for PC
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for PC
- Need for Speed: ProStreet for Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: Undercover for Nintendo DS
- Neverwinter Nights 2 for PC and Mac
- Neverwinter Nights for PC, Mac and Linux (including Hordes of the Underdark and Shadows of Undrentide expansions)
- SimCity Creator for Wii
- Skate It for Nintendo DS
- Sneezies for the Wii
- Spore Creatures for Nintendo DS
- Spore Hero Arena for Nintendo DS
- Star Wars: Battlefront for PC and PlayStation 2
- Star Wars: Battlefront 2 for PC and PlayStation 2
- The Beatles: Rock Band for the Wii
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 for Nintendo DS
