If the names Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free, Need for Speed World and FIFA World ring a bell, you can quickly forget them. Electronic Arts has announced on the company blog, as well as an announcement on the Battlefield Heroes website, that these games are to be shut down on July 14th, 2015.
“The war is over! You have fought long and hard but the time for peace awaits us. The Nationals and Royals have finally been able to put the past behind and call a truce. With peace comes an end to a great story, and thus it is with a heavy heart that we must inform you, that on Tuesday July 14th 2015 we will be closing Battlefield Heroes for good and stopping the service in its entirety.”
Patrick Söderlund, executive vice president for EA Studios, announced that the games “are not as popular as they once were”, and therefore, they must be shut down. Any sign-ups for Battlefield Heroes have already ended, and there will be no more purchasing any Play4Free Funds, the in-game currency that allows gamers to buy boosts or in-game equipment.
As far as refunds go, EA has put up a big “NOPE” sign. Play4Free Funds are created using real-world money, and users are “encouraged” to use them all up before the game shuts down.
No refund details have been announced for Battlefield Play4Free, Need for Speed World and FIFA World, yet.
Not the end for EA F2P games
On the other hand, after the big shut down of these games, EA will still have two major free-to-play games on PC: Star Wars: The Old Republic and Command and Conquer: Tiberium Alliance. Beyond that platform, EA also has several free-to-play games on mobile, like The Simpsons: Tapped Out or The Sims: FreePlay, among others.
The MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic is EA’s biggest PC free-to-play, and they are currently very happy with it…
“Star Wars: The Old Republic is a game that continues to have a very enthusiastic and growing player community, and we have plans to introduce more new story-driven game updates to our Star Wars: The Old Republic players this year.”
