EA has withdrawn a number of older games from the Need-for-Speed series. The step is a preparation for the shutdown of the online services for the affected titles, which will take place in the fall.
Affected are Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed and Need for Speed The Run, which was launched in 2011. All of the above-mentioned games can now only be purchased second-hand on DVD for PC and consoles. Purchases are no longer possible on distribution platforms such as Steam, the Xbox and PlayStation stores. The in-game shops, if any, have also already been switched off.
On August 31, the online functions for the games concerned will finally be deactivated. From September onwards, only single player modes and functions can be used.
Change because of the “future”
The decision was made in order to be able to concentrate on the “future of Need for Speed”, the developers wrote on Reddit. The development teams have invested “a lot of time and passion” into the development, publication and operation of the games for years, but the current number of players made it no longer economically viable to continue the necessary work in the background.
This explanation is linked with the reference to newer titles that can still be played online, including Need for Speed Most Wanted (2012) Rivals, Need for Speed (2015) (Test) as well as the younger parts Payback and Heat are listed. With the exception of the first, however, they have one thing in common: unlike the titles that are discontinued, they represent the qualitative decline of the brand under the aegis of Ghost Games. To this extent, it seems absolutely necessary to concentrate on the future. EA has already set the course for this by entrusting the specialists at Criterion Games with the continuation of the series.