No surprise here — Electornic Arts is giving the middle finger to gamers and preservationists in unison as Rocket Arena, a game that was delisted back in November, is getting its server shut down. The 2020 3v3 shooter is, of course, online-only, meaning once servers shut down, the game is unavailable to play in any capacity. While some hoped it would take longer for the servers to go down, as this game wasn’t an absolute dumpster fire in terms of sales… nope.
The game is now reported about to officially shutter its servers. This game highlights the struggle of online-only games and the futile act of preservation when AAA devs don’t care — they’ll just wash their hands of the game, call it a failure, and move onto its next online-only shooter because they can.
This sort of move toward online-only games serve only to be a thorn in the side of players, as everyone knows these games will eventually crumble after enough players drop off, it doesn’t sell as well as expected, or the developer simply decides it’s time to sunset updates. Of course, EA is one of those developers who don’t let players have their own servers, meaning once EA turns out the proverbial lights, it’s game over for Rocket Arena fans.
While not flat out confirmed, we anticipate this change was because of developer Final Strike Games’ new IP, Zombie Zermatt. This is mostly a reminder to those who may have not realized Rocket Arena is thing or that it’s being full-on shut down next week.
From all of us at FSG and EA, we’d like to inform you that Rocket Arena will be sunset and the servers shut down on March 21, 2024 12:00 PM PDT.
Thank You!
We can’t thank you all enough for playing Rocket Arena and supporting us during this journey. We’re thrilled that people from all around the world got to enjoy Rocket Arena for three and a half years since it launched in July of 2020. Since then, there’s been a ton of Knockouts, Megablasts, Rocketball goals, Mega Rockets captured, and coins collected. We’ve been consistently blown away by the kindness, care, and camaraderie that’s been shown from the Rocket Arena community.
We’ve gotten to know many of you on a personal level over these years and we even have a community member that works at Final Strike now! (Shoutout to @SlackingVeteran!) Rocket Arena wouldn’t have been as special as it is without this community’s great input over that time. A big thank you to our community, and for all of your feedback, balance notes, feature ideas, and inspiring artwork that was provided along the way! Thank you all for making Rocket Arena such an unforgettable and special experience.
Sunset Community Events
Coming up are showcase Arena playlists and classic content from Rocket Arena’s early seasons. We look forward to joining you in the community play sessions. Look for more details on these events in the Rocket Arena discord.If you’ve already purchased or activated the game, you can still re-download from your collection and join in on the action.
Content Changes
Here are other changes we’re making:
- Removing Rocket Fuel bundles from the store
- Reducing Rocket Part prices for purchasable items
- Increasing XP from match time Adding the following items from the Season 1 Blast Pass:
- Crystal Cay Amphora
- Crater Chronicle Plink
- Shadow Shot Kayi
- Harmony Return Trail
- Inferno Return Trail
- Grand Gold Rocket Totem Stand
On behalf of everyone at Final Strike, thank you for enjoying Rocket Arena with us! We’ll have additional updates on what’s next for Final Strike soon.
Owner
GWare is a gaming industry reporter with over five years of experience and a massive supporter of ethical game preservation efforts.