Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company 1 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are to be removed from digital stores in late April, EA has announced.
Three Battlefield games are to meet their digital maker in late April, EA has announced. The online military shooters Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company 1 and its sequel Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are too be taken from digital stores on 28 April 2023, with their online services retired a few months later on 8 December 2023.
Battlefield: Bad Company is the eldest of the three titles, having first emerged on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2008, while its sequel followed in 2010 for PC as well as consoles. Both titles had single-player modes – Bad Company 2's solo campaign being particularly lauded – so at least that element can still be enjoyed in years to come, assuming you have the game on disc.
The bigger loser is Battlefield 1943. Originally released for PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2009, the multiplayer FPS was only ever released digitally, which means that, legally at least, the entire experience is on the cusp of vanishing forever.
There’s slightly better news for fans of EA DICE’s output, however. In what we can only describe as a ‘confusing kerfuffle’, EA’s original announcement included the 2008 parkour-’em-up Mirror’s Edge among the titles scheduled for the chopping block.
It seemed like an odd inclusion even at the time, given that Mirror’s Edge’s online component was pretty minimal. EA DICE’s first-person platformer has grown into a much-loved cult darling, too, so the thought of it suddenly being unable to purchase (at least digitally) sent Twitter and gaming news outlets into a frenzy of typing.
A few hours later, EA’s Battlefield Twitter account followed up with a rather sheepish clarification: “An earlier version of this announcement included Mirror’s Edge. This was an error. We currently have no plans to remove Mirror’s Edge from digital storefronts.”
An update about Battlefield 1943, Bad Company and Bad Company 2 👇https://t.co/mqYW5VVi2i
An earlier version of this announcement included Mirror's Edge. That was an error. We currently have no plans to remove Mirror’s Edge from digital storefronts.
— Battlefield (@Battlefield) March 21, 2023
Cue dozens of tired online journalists rushing back to their laptops to update their initial news stories.
As for those fallen Battlefield titles: whynow Gaming salutes you.
