More EA Server Shutdowns Coming Soon

Electronic Arts is gearing up for another round of online service shutdowns for a big pile of older (and some not-so-old) games.

The new year is upon us and that means it’s once again time for EA to cull its herd of online game servers. Most of the titles affected are either long in the tooth or just not very popular, although in the case of the Lord of the Rings titles EA was forced to halt service due to the expiration of its licensing deal with Middle-Earth Enterprises. Regardless of the reasons, the company said the number of gamers who will be affected by the closures is relatively tiny.

“As background information, the EA Sports games scheduled for shutdown in February and March 2011 represent roughly one percent of all peak online players across all EA titles,” it said. “Despite some people’s perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running. We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99 percent of customers playing our more popular games.”

And now, the Looming Ax List:

January 11

• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II for Xbox 360
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king for Xbox 360
• (PC versions of The Battle for Middle-earth were shut down on December 31)

January 17

• The Sims Carnival

February 8

• FIFA 07 for Xbox 360
• FIFA 08 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
• FIFA 09 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
• FIFA 09 Ultimate Team for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• FIFA Street 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• EA SPORTS FIFA Manager 10 for PC
• EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• Madden 09 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
• Madden 10 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2 and Wii
• NBA LIVE 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NBA LIVE 09 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
• NCAA Basketball 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NCAA Basketball 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NCAA Football 07 for Xbox 360
• NCAA Football 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NCAA Football 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 2
• NFL Head Coach 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NHL 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• NHL 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• UEFA EURO 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• 2010 FIFA World Cup for PlayStation Portable and Wii
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

March 1

• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 for Wii

It has to be frustrating for fans of affected titles but before you start breaking out the torches and pitchforks, bear in mind that this isn’t the first time EA has drawn the drapes on older or unpopular games and it won’t be the last, either. Sooner or later the hammer falls on every game; just ask Halo fans about that.