Almost half a dozen Need for Speed games have been delisted

As the video games industry matures, more and more older titles are left to the wayside, being largely ignored – especially if they were not revolutionary at the time. Despite digital media needing no physical space, server costs are eventually deemed too high for the product it’s hosting. Such is the case with a plethora of Need for Speed titles, which have now been delisted.

Making the announcement on Reddit, the Need for Speed community manager revealed that “Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed and Need for Speed The Run will be removed from digital storefronts and you will no longer be able to purchase them,” with in-game stores likewise being closed.

The reason for this delisting is “in preparation for the retirement of the online services for these titles which will happen on August 31st 2021,” explaining that “until that date, you will be able to play and race your friends (and rivals) online. From September 1st 2021 onwards, you can still play the games and use the respective offline features of these titles.”

As mentioned, the decision to delist these titles is a business one, with them explaining that “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.”

As more games integrate with online services, such delistings are set to become more and more commonplace. Hopefully, these titles will be preserved by fans and dedicated communities in some form or another.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this decision? Are you worried about game preservation? What’s your favourite Need for Speed game? Let us know down below.

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