EA closing Sims Carnival, announces new round of game server shutdowns
It has become a part of the game industry circle of life: EA shutting down online servers for its older (or unpopular) games. The company has announced a new round of shutdowns, including the complete shutdown of its The Sims Carnival creation site. The company notes that all games and content on the site will no longer be available after January 16. The Sims Carnival site does state, however, that Game Creator and game files can be downloaded before the service ends and played locally.
Furthermore, EA has announced that its publishing deal for Lord of the Rings games has expired, meaning the last active title, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 on Xbox 360, will be shut down on January 11 for Xbox 360. The PC version was closed on December 31. Several sports games are scheduled to be shut down on February 8, including several FIFA and NCAA titles. Finally, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 for Wii will go offline March 1.
