Several Need for Speed games have being delisted from digital retailers and are having their official online servers shut down by publisher Electronic Arts. The sudden announcement came with zero notice, leaving many fans frustrated that they weren’t given a heads up to purchase and preserve the Need for Speed titles’ servers before they vanished from digital storefronts.

A new Need for Speed game is in the works, but it’s unclear what the new title will focus on. The last few entries in the series have had mixed critical and commercial results, leaving fans desiring much more from the iconic street racing franchise. Whether or not the next Need for Speed can bring the series back to up its beloved status remains to be seen. Being that players will no longer be able to easily relive more of the series’ glory days now, EA evidently needs to work extra hard on the next entry.

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Monday, EA announced on the Need for Speed subreddit that it has delisted five entries in the series: Need for Speed: Carbon, Undercover, Shift, Shift 2: Unleashed, and The Run. The games are already unavailable online – much to the surprise of many – their and online services will be shut down on August 31, 2021. It’ll likely be a while before the next entry, as key Need for Speed studio Criterion Need for Speed team is helping with Battlefield 6‘s development, which won’t release until this holiday season. EA cited low player counts in its decision to drop the games, saying:

“Decisions to retire games are never made easy, but we are now shifting gears to focus on the future of Need for Speed. The development teams and operational staff have put a lot of time and passion into the development, creation, release and upkeep of the game over the years, and we love to see you play. But the number of players has come to a point where it’s no longer feasible to continue the work behind the scenes required to keep Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed and Need for Speed The Run up and running.”

Fans are hopeful for a return to Need for Speed‘s golden years in the future, but EA has squashed rumors of a Need for Speed: Underground revival. The company recently remastered the 2012 remake of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, but it’s unclear if there’s any similar plans to return to other older entries in the series. EA is still remaining tight-lipped about the next franchise entry, but what is known is that it’s slated to release in 2022, with an EA Play 2021 reveal likely.

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While the termination of sale and service of these newly delisted titles, is sudden, it’s not really terribly surprising. The delisted titles are from two console generations ago and almost all of them are over ten years old. It’s unlikely there’s many people still playing these games, but that doesn’t erase the value of these games’ preservation for history’s sake. There’s always the possibility the publisher could choose to put these Need for Speedtitles back on sale temporarily if fan outcry is loud enough, but that doesn’t seem likely.

Source: EA

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Cade Onder
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Cade Onder is a 20-year old video game, movie, and chicken tender enthusiast. He has been writing about games since he was 14 and is always trying to learn more about the gaming industry. You can follow him on Twitter @Cade_Onder for bad jokes, bad takes, and pictures of chicken tenders.

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