A bunch of EA Classics are being listed from the PS Store

It’s shaping up to be a disappointing year for digital storefronts. Nintendo will shut down Both Wii U and 3DS eShops immediatelyAnd we’re slowly starting to see publishers pull legacy content from places like PS Store. For example, EA’s Battlefield 1943 slate, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Mirror’s Edge – all four will become permanently unavailable starting April 28, 2023.

“This is in preparation for the retirement of online services for these titles which will take place on December 8, 2023,” a spokesperson for the publisher said. “For Bad Company, Bad Company 2, and Mirror’s Edge, you can still continue to play them and use their respective offline features, such as the single player campaign.”

It doesn’t make sense for us to list these games if they still have playable single-player components, but the publisher said it’s “looking forward to making new memories with you now as we focus on our present and future. Let’s turn to the war experiences of “. Can’t we have both?

Obviously, this is less of an issue on PlayStation than on Xbox and Steam, due to Sony’s inability to transfer PS3 purchases to its more modern hardware. But it’s a reminder that this digital future we’re all starting to embrace has a shelf life, and software is ephemeral when you rely on publishers and platform holders to continue to make it available. We’d like to think that EA will at least discount these titles before they’re gone – but it’s not like Nintendo is bothered before their storefronts close, so who knows?