It looks like EA are trying to keep their profits high, with even more server shutdowns.

Shutdowns are becoming a regular thing within EA. Every now and then it is decided that the maintenance costs simply aren’t worth running for their tiny player base. Despite achieving profits of around $750 million USD in the first quarter of 2012 EA simply “cannot afford to” offer their consumers what they paid for and are thus eliminating online multiplayer from over a dozen games.

The games to be affected by the shutdown include:
Boom Blox Bash Party for Wii (Mary 2009)
Burnout Revenge for Xbox 360 (March 2006)
EA Create for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 (November 2010)
EA Sports Active 2.0 for PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 (November 2010)
EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp for Wii (November 2010)
FIFA 10 for PlayStation Portable and Wii (October 2009)
The Godfather II for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 (April 2009)
EA Sports MMA for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (October 2010)
Need for Speed ProStreet for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (November 2007)
The Saboteur (loss of The Midnight Club access) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (December 2009)
Spare Parts for PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 (January 2011)
- Credit GameSpot.

To add insult to injury several of these games require online passes to play. You know, that thing where you get a hidden cost for buying a second hand game? … Yeah, that. The very thing that they claim helps maintain server costs and account for loss of profit. Oh well, it’s good to see the industry has an excellent moral standard.

The shutdowns will happen on the 13th of April 2012. So if you enjoy any of the aforementioned games I’d get playing them whilst you still can – you’ve got less than a month left.

Personally, I think it’s wrong that companies can discontinue multiplayer from their games. Granted, the player base for the above games accounts for less than 1% of the EA total, but still, people paid for online and should be entitled to it. It’s like buying a car only to have the rear doors removed some 18 months down the line because they aren’t used often enough. What’s worse is they have included online passes with some of these games only to revoke multiplayer rights later on.