Electronic Arts has announced that it will be shutting down Stake 2‘s online servers on PlayStation and Xbox platforms on December 10th, 2021. Interestingly, this news was announced in the same Twitter thread that celebrated Skate 2‘s arrival on the Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility. The title is one of 70+ classics that were recently added to the new hardware’s library.
EA wrote that it didn’t take the decision lightly, and redirected followers to a standard service update post on its website.
Additionally, we’re providing a heads up that on December 10, 2021, we will be turning off the Skate 2 online servers for PlayStation and Xbox. It’s not an easy decision and not something we take lightly. For more info check: https://t.co/98V9WH3W8C
— skate. (@skateEA) November 15, 2021
Clicking through the link leads to a lengthy explanation of EA’s end-of-service policies.
“The decisions to withdraw particular features or modes of certain EA games, or to retire online services relating to older EA games are never easy,” reads the article. “The development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into our games, their features and modes almost as much as the players, and it is hard to see one retired. As games are replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the games that have been live for some time dwindles to a level – typically fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles – where it’s no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping the online services for these games up and running.”
A new Skate game is currently in development.
