EA Shutting Down AAA Game Permanently in 24 Hours

EA, also known as Electronic Arts, is shutting down a AAA game permanently in 24 hours, leaving owners of the 2019 game in question unable to play any multiplayer content, which is a significant portion of the content available. Meanwhile, those interested in purchasing the game before the multiplayer goes off, whether to see said content before the plug is pulled or to access the single-player content in the future, unfortunately, there is no option to purchase the game, which was delisted by EA back in 2023.

EA has shut multiple games down over the past few months, and it rarely explains why. Obviously, the game in question, 2019’s Grid, has been unavailable for purchase for two years, but it was never revealed why it was removed from digital storefronts in the first place. It is presumably due to expiring licenses. Meanwhile, if a game isn’t available to purchase, EA has no incentive to continue servers for the game, as maintaining servers is not only expensive, but also unsupported servers pose several security risks.

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About the Game

Grid was released back in 2019 by Codemasters, a studio known for making racing games. It was specifically released on October 11, 2019, via the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Upon release, it garnered a Metacritic range of 73-79, a solid return, but not a great one. Meanwhile, it appears the game sold softly.

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The 2019 release is the fourth game in the series, which dates back to 2009. It is not the newest game, though. The newest game is 2022’s Grid Legends. What the future of the series looks like, we do not know. It is also unclear what the future of Codemasters looks like. There have been reports that the studio is being closed, but EA has denied these reports so far.

While it looks like Codemasters is not on ice, for the moment, Grid probably is. Not because of this shutdown, but because the latest game in the series, the aforementioned Grid Legends, did not do overly well. Before Codemasters was acquired by EA in 2021, there may have been a place in the future for Grid. Now that EA owns the studio and the IP, though, there is a demand for not just success, but substantial success, which the series does not seem positioned to deliver in a competitive space with bigger-budget games.

All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.