Xbox 360 and PS3 Game to Shut Down Servers Following 10-Year Anniversary
It's the end of an era for this classic Xbox 360 and PS3 action game.
A popular action game that launched originally on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in 2014 is soon going to shut down its online servers. On a long enough timeline, most games that feature online components end up shuttering in some capacity. This has been a growing trend in recent years, particularly with titles that happen to stem from the Xbox 360 and PS3 era. Fortunately, with this game in question, it will still be playable online on modern platforms thanks to ports that have since come about.
At the end of March 2024, the action Soulslike game Dark Souls II will see its online servers closed on Xbox 360 and PS3. Publisher Bandai Namco recently took to X (or Twitter) and informed fans that this move will come to pass on March 31, 2024, which is only a little bit after the game's tenth anniversary. After this time, the online portion of Dark Souls II on Xbox 360 and PS3 will no longer be accessible, although the single-player aspects of the game will remain playable as they normally would.
The #DarkSouls2 PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will shut down on March 31, 2024.
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) December 22, 2023
A message stating that online play is disabled will be displayed. Offline play will still be possible.
PC, PS4 & Xbox One servers will not be affected.
Thank you to those who have played since launch.
Typically, a move like this would be met with a lot of blowback from those who are fans of the game being impacted. As mentioned, though, this move related to Dark Souls II isn't as big of a deal given that FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have previously released Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. This edition of Dark Souls II was ported to newer platforms a little over a year after the game originally came to Xbox 360 and PS3. Bandai Namco has also stressed that these versions of DS2 won't be impacted by the server shutdown, which means that the game's online element isn't being lost altogether.
Still, how do you feel about seeing the online component of Dark Souls II come to an end on its original platforms? Do you believe that this is a big deal, or are you fine with the internet services only being active on newer editions of the game? Let me know either down in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.