EA ends development on multiple F2P PC games, spares The Old Republic
Electronic Arts Inc (EA) has announced that it will be ceasing development on several of its free-to-play PC titles, and it looks like only Star Wars: The Old Republic will survive.
“Star Wars: The Old Republic is a game that continues to have a very enthusiastic and growing player community, and we have plans to introduce more new story-driven game updates to our Star Wars: The Old Republic players this year,” EA’s Patrick Söderlund wrote in a statement.
He continued, “On the other hand, some of our other PC free-to-play games are not as popular as they once were. So we find ourselves announcing the tough decision today that we are stopping development and winding down support for four PC free-to-play titles: Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free, Need for Speed World and FIFA World. These games will be live for another 90 days, after which they will go offline.”
Unsurprisingly, there do not appear to be any plans for EA to refund money paid for in-game currency, and the official site for Battlefield Heroes says, “Those of you who still have a balance of in-game currency are encouraged to spend it before the game is no longer available on Tuesday July 14th 2015.”
However, EA did announce that going forward, players will no longer be able to purchase Play4Free Funds or register new accounts. Additionally, all characters and game progress will be permanently deleted when the game shuts down.
EA’s announcement demonstrates a continuing concern for online-only games, especially free to play titles. Once official support ceases, there is rarely any way to continue playing the game in the future.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been pushing for changes to copyright laws that would allow modders to resurrect abandoned games with fan-made patches or private servers, but the group is facing an uphill battle due to resistance from the Entertainment Software Association, a coalition of game publishers similar to the MPAA or RIAA.
While the game publishing giant did not find enough value in free-to-play PC games, its mobile games have continued to be highly successful. Earlier this year, the company boasted that it had reached 160 million monthly average users of EA mobile games, and Madden NFL Mobile and FIFA 15 Ultimate Team saw a roughly 45 percent increase in users.
Image credit: Electronic Arts Inc
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