By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
October is a tumultuous month for EA Games. On top of their recent purchase by Saudi royals, the company is closing the servers for four of its games. This includes the AAA game Need for Speed: Rivals, which closed its servers on October 7.
In August, EA Games announced that servers for four of its games would be shutting down. Hockey game NHL 21, made obsolete by more recent hockey seasons, closed down on October 6. Two other outdated sports games, Madden NFL 22 and FIFA 23, will be closing later in October.
The Need for Speed franchise is a popular one with a large following, and the Rivals installment was followed by six more games. Many consoles will still have backward compatibility to play the game, but without the servers, the game’s functionality is severely diminished.
This closure has nothing to do with the recent purchase of EA Games. Gaming companies that have online properties often shut down games that people aren’t playing anymore. Need for Speed: Rivals had around 100 live players a day before the closure on October 7. The sports games have all been superseded by subsequent releases, which feature updates to teams, players, and statistics.
The most recent game in the Need for Speed franchise is Need for Speed Unbound, which was released in 2022. EA Games has no immediate plans for any new games in the title, but fans of the franchise still have games available to them, even with the closure of the servers. If functionality isn’t important to a player, it’s still possible to enjoy Need for Speed: Rivals.
