GameSpy server shutdown

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On 31 May 2014, all multiplayer services hosted by GameSpy were shut down by Glu Mobile. A documented library of over 800 video games on platforms such as PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and far more were affected by this massive shutdown. Some games, such as the Arma series, were retooled to function without needing to rely upon GameSpy services by the developer. Most of the games require third-party tools to regain functionality, such as Battlefield 2142, which relies upon OpenSpy and the BF2142 Reclamation community. A subset of affected games had their Digital Rights Management affected by this shutdown as well.^{[citation needed - Read comment]}

Background

In 2012, the mobile game developer Glu Mobile purchased GameSpy's multiplayer service department GameSpy Industries.

The shutdown

Shortly after Glu Mobile purchased GameSpy Industries from IGN in August 2012, the company concluded services for many older games reliant on GameSpy services, such as Fairytale Fights, Star Wars: Battlefront, Sniper Elite, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Saints Row 2, and Neverwinter Nights. This was done without prior notice to the developers of these games or the users who paid for these games.

In April 2014, Glu Mobile announced that on May 31st of the same year, the remainder of all GameSpy services would be shut down. All games on the Wii and Nintendo DS that relied upon the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection platform lost all multiplayer functionality, as Nintendo tied the functionality of this platform on services offered by GameSpy.

Consumer response

There was outrage from consumers over the discontinuation of GameSpy's services.^{[citation needed - Read comment]} Some communities responded by reverse-engineering the servers into new tools such as OpenSpy. One of the initial attempts to restore GameSpy functionality faced a shutdown notice from Electronic Arts regarding the restoration of multiplayer in older Battlefield games.