EA Delisting Award-Winning Games From All Digital Stores
EA is permanently delisting some of its award-winning Battlefield games from all digital storefronts.
EA is permanently delisting some of its award-winning Battlefield games from all digital storefronts. This news follows massive restructuring happening within the gaming industry since the costs of development have gone high, and many gaming companies are now cutting their expenses. This led EA to focus more on its upcoming title and the development of its blockbusters, such as the upcoming Star Wars Jedi game and the recently released Dead Space Remake.
According to The Verge, EA plans to delist Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2—the latter of which actually isn’t the best Battlefield game. The company announced its plans for the delisting of the aforementioned titles on Tuesday, scheduled for April 28, way ahead of the planned shutdowns of the games’ online services, which are taking place on December 8, 2023. However, the offline campaign aspects of Bad Company and Bad Company 2 will remain accessible to those who bought the games.
There were mentions of another EA game being delisted along with three Battlefield games; however, EA later clarified that the purported delisting of 2008’s Mirror’s Edge is an error and that the game will remain functional. Still, it’s a bit frustrating that the three games are being delisted and inaccessible for gamers who’d like to try them out in the future, considering that their campaigns will remain functional. It’s quite possible that these might make their way to GOG.com, which supports game preservation.
Regardless, these delistings are only indicative of how impermanent digital gaming releases are, as the whole industry is going through a sort of purge. Nintendo is closing WiiU and 3DS eShops, Microsoft removed a ridiculous amount of huge titles from the Marketplace, Marvel’s Avengers is also facing a shutdown due to the mistreatment by its publisher/developer, and several gaming companies have pulled the plugs on their online releases or upcoming, in-development projects. This is precisely the reason why the upcoming Suicide Squad should drop a feature that has fans very upset.
The three games scheduled for delisting hold a very dear place in gamers’ hearts; Battlefield 1943 was released exclusively on PS3 and Xbox 360 as a digital release—which now actually highlights the perks of physical media over digital—and was an absolute blast. The subsequently released Battlefield: Bad Company and Bad Company 2 were also released on the PC and have played a massive role in popularizing the franchise across all platforms.
Unfortunately, EA’s aggressive monetization tactics are one of the factors that have led to the franchise’s fall from grace.
The last installment in the franchise, the highly anticipated Battlefield 2042, was a massive failure. EA and its subsidiaries delivered half-baked goods since the game was marred with massive technical issues, which rendered it nigh unplayable. The company has since tried to make things right by fixing the game and even considering a free-to-play model—of course, they did—but the title never actually recuperated its initial player count.
It’s highly unlikely that it ever will, and it only attests to how quantity over quality doesn’t go very far in this industry.
