Epic Games is taking a bunch of its games offline.
The popular online game distributor and developer recently announced it would begin shutting down "out-of-date" games with online services and servers on Dec. 13 as part of its efforts to solely support Epic Online Services.
This transition will affect several Rock Band and Unreal titles, as well as a few games unrelated to either franchise.
Epic Games "Out-Of-Date" Games Shut Down Details
Epic Games mentioned in a blog post that it is turning off out-of-date games with online services and servers in the Epic Family as it goes through the transition process to solely support Epic Online Services.
Some of the games Epic will shut down starting on Dec. 13 will still be playable offline, while others will no longer be.
The affected games are:
- 1000 Tiny Claws
- Dance Central 1-3
- Green day: Rock band
- Monsters (Probably Stole) My Princess
- Rock Band 1-3
- The Beatles: Rock Band
- Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars
- Unreal Gold
- Unreal II: The Awakening
- Unreal Tournament 2003
- Unreal Tournament 2004
- Unreal Tournament 3
- Unreal Tournament: Game of The Year Edition
Dance Central 1-3 and Rock Band 1-3 will still have their online multiplayer modes, which are Dance Central VR online multiplayer, and Rock Band 4 online multiplayer, respectively.
Meanwhile, Unreal Tournament 3 will lose online features during this time. However, unlike Dance Central 1-3 and Rock Band 1-3, Unreal Tournament 3 will get its online features back once Epic Online Services are up and running in the future.
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In the meantime, though, Epic Games are disabling any in-game DLC purchasing for these games starting on Dec. 13. Additionally, Epic also removed the Mac and Linux versions of Hatoful Boyfriend and Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star, as well as the mobile title DropMix from storefronts today.
Furthermore, the company will completely shut down Battle Breakers on Dec. 30, making it unavailable to players after that date.
Epic will also refund players who recently bought in-game purchases made through Epic direct payment 180 days before Dec. 14.
Unreal Tournament (Alpha}, Rock Band Blitz, Rock Band Companion app, and SingSpace will also be discontinued and made unaccessible to players come Jan. 24.
What Is The Epic Online Services?
Epic Games Online Services are multi-platform social and game services that developers can use on any storefront, platform, and with any game engine for free, per Epic Games' FAQ.
According to Engadget, it offers a unified friends system, voice chat, parental controls, and parental verification - a centralization of features and services for developers and players to use to their benefit.
Cross-platform login, game invites, and friend requests are also available on the Epic Online Service.
Epic added that skipping the installation of its Online Services will prevent access to Epic Games Launcher updates, though those who opt to skip can still access their games library, Unreal Engine, and other content accessible through the Games Launcher for the foreseeable future.
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