Recently, Electronic Arts confirmed that a slew of ‘legacy’ Battlefield titles are about to be delisted from digital storefronts. From July 31, Battlefield 3 (widely considered the best Battlefield game ever), Battlefield 4, and Battlefield: Hardline will be made unpurchaseable on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Then, on November 7, the online services for these games will be shut down forever.
Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 will remain playable on PC only, while Hardline will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC – but even that won’t last forever. Single-player content won’t be impacted by this move.
End of an Era
Battlefield 3 was released in 2011 to an overwhelmingly positive reception, competing effortlessly against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and serving as what many refer to as ‘peak’ Battlefield. In 2013, Battlefield 4 held its own, and in 2016, the best-selling Battlefield title ever – Battlefield 1 – managed to score some stellar reviews, but Battlefield 3 was something special.
It’s all about to come to an end (almost). On November 7, Battlefield 3 (along with 4 and Hardline) will have its online servers shut down on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. That means that Battlefield 3 will remain playable – for now – exclusively on PC. However, given the inevitable and persistent decline in the number of players booting up the 13-year-old shooter on PC, it’s only a matter of time before Electronic Arts closes down that service too.
This is expected to also impact backwards compatibility – which means you won’t be able to play Battlefield 3 on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One.
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