Epic is shutting down on-line companies for traditional Rock Band and Unreal Tournament video games

Epic Games is starting to close down on-line companies for a big number of its older video games, together with Rock Band 1 by means of 3, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. The firm is making the modifications as “we move to solely support Epic Online Services with its unified friends system, voice chat features, parental controls, and parental verification features,” it said in a blog post on Wednesday.

The shutdowns will start on Wednesday. For the under video games, on-line companies will likely be absolutely disabled by January twenty fourth, although you may nonetheless play single-player or offline multiplayer. Epic can also be starting to take away the video games from digital storefronts (the place you would nonetheless purchase them) and disabling in-game DLC purchases.

1000 Tiny Claws

Dance Central 1-3

Green Day: Rock Band

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess

Rock Band 1-3

The Beatles: Rock Band

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars

Unreal Gold

Unreal II: The Awakening

Unreal Tournament 2003

Unreal Tournament 2004

Unreal Tournament 3

Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition

If you’re disenchanted to see Unreal Tournament 3 on the checklist, I do have some excellent news: Epic says that it plans to carry again on-line options for the sport sooner or later. As noticed by deals expert Wario64, there’s already a Steam page for a sport known as Unreal Tournament 3 X, and in keeping with the itemizing, will probably be free with crossplay between Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.

Confusingly, Unreal Tournament 3 X’s launch date is listed as November nineteenth, 2007, and there’s a discover that the sport is “no longer available” on the shop. But on condition that Unreal Tournament 3 initially launched that same day, it appears Epic could be repurposing the older sport’s Steam web page for the newer launch. Epic declined to remark.

As for Rock Band, which Epic snapped up as a part of its Harmonix acquisition in 2021, the studio says that Rock Band 4’s on-line multiplayer will stay accessible. But with the shutdowns to the opposite Rock Band video games on the checklist, you gained’t be capable to purchase DLC songs, that means you gained’t be capable to broaden your track libraries as soon as DLC purchases are absolutely disabled.

Epic is making modifications for a couple of different video games and apps as nicely. On Wednesday, the Mac and Linux variations of the avian relationship simulators Hatoful Boyfriend and Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star and the cell sport DropMix will likely be pulled from storefronts. Battle Breakers, a free-to-play RPG, will likely be shut down on December thirtieth. Unreal Tournament (Alpha), Rock Band Blitz, the Rock Band Companion app, and VR karaoke sport SingSpace will likely be shut down on January twenty fourth.