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GameSpy online matchmaking service goes dark on May 31
GameSpy Technologies is shuttering its online matchmaking service on May 31, ending online play for more than 1,000 games that use the company's middleware. Launched as a Quake server search program in 1996, GameSpy soon branched out to host online play for hundreds of console and PC games. Many recent games with active online communities still employ GameSpy technology, including multiple titles published by Activision, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Sega, and Nintendo. Affected games will need to migrate online play to SteamWorks or other services prior to the shutdown in order to maintain multiplayer functionality. The service shutdown comes in the wake of GameSpy ceasing editorial content in 2013. Mobile games publisher Glu Mobile purchased GameSpy Technologies in 2012, later shutting down online play for several popular games without notice when developers failed to pay hosting bills. [Image: GameSpy]
GameSpy: Multiplayer server shutdown result of failure to pay by devs
GameSpy has responded to the issue earlier this week of its owners Glu Mobile shutting down various multiplayer servers for older PC games like Neverwinter Nights and Sniper Elite. First up, GameSpy itself has put together a large blog post on its own site, making clear that GameSpy, the editorial outlet owned by IGN, is different from GameSpy Technologies, the multiplayer middleware provider owned by Glu Mobile. It's GameSpy Technologies that closed the servers down, not the GameSpy outlet.GameSpy Technologies has also responded to the issue on its Facebook page, and says that the server shutdowns are a result of the game developers choosing not to pay their service fees, and that "in some cases this lapsing ranges back as much as four years." GameSpy Technologies tells players that it "cannot be expected to provide a service free of charge," and that's why these servers went down. The company also says it was the developers' responsibility to inform players of the impending shutdowns, and "it is regrettable that these publishers chose not to inform their users of the impending discontinuation of support."Now, developer Rebellion said that GameSpy had changed its rates to be "far in excess of how much we were paying previously," but GameSpy Technologies reportedly told GameSpy (the editorial outlet) that server fees haven't changed in eight years and there were no increases made or even plans to do so. Someone, in other words, is mistaken. Joystiq has followed up with both parties, and we'll update this post if we hear more.
