Older Need for Speed games will be shutdown and removed from EA store

There was a time when you would go to a physical store and buy the game you wanted to install and play. Although that experience seems like a relic from the past, it did ensure that you could always install the game with a physical disc. Modern digital storefronts, like EA’s Origin launcher, now offer its catalog of games that can be downloaded at a moment’s notice. That is, if the game is still available to download. EA announced today that its library of titles at its store will get just a wee bit smaller with the removal of some classic Need for Speed games starting today.

It looks as though the games being removed from the EA store are mostly modern titles from the Need for Speed franchise. Those games include standout titles like Need for Speed: Carbon and Need for Speed: Shift. Those two games alone are more than a decade old, and mark a time in EA’s history when it was starting to modernize its long-running racing series. The games being removed will allow the team to focus on what comes next for the series, with EA stating: “Decisions to retire games are never made easy, but we are now shifting gears to focus on the future of Need for Speed.”

Going, going, gone

Despite the various Need for Speed games being removed, online services will be operational until August 31. However, the digital in-game stores have become cannon fodder and won’t be available after today. The following games will be affected:

• Need for Speed Carbon    
• Need for Speed Undercover    
• Need for Speed Shift    
• Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed    
• Need for Speed The Run

You can view the original announcement for the post on Reddit, made by EA’s Need for Speed Community Manager Max_Joker. The CM ends the post with: ” We hope you have gotten many victories, satisfying drifts, moments of friendly rivalry, and hours of joy over the last few years out of these games.”