Need for Speed: Rivals is losing its online features later this year. EA has confirmed that online services for the PS4 and Xbox versions will end on October 7, 2025. This means players won’t be able to access any online modes after that date.
A long road comes to a stop
Need for Speed: Rivals launched on November 15, 2013, for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. It came to PS4 and Xbox One a year later. The game blended online and offline racing in a shared world. After October 7, only the offline mode will remain.
Many racing fans enjoy competing online. Losing that option takes away a big part of the experience. Still, Rivals will remain playable in offline mode. That’s more than can be said for some other games.
The fight to save digital games
Anthem, another game by EA, is also getting shut down. Its online servers will go dark in early 2026. Without online access, the game won’t work at all.
This is why the Stop Killing Games campaign was started. The group wants laws to protect digital game access. Their petition has passed 1 million signatures.
Big publishers say keeping servers alive is too costly. They claim it would harm future game development.
Markus “Notch” Persson, creator of Minecraft, shared his thoughts. He said,
“If buying a game is not a purchase, then pirating them is not theft.”
Many players agree. When a game is taken away, it feels like something they paid for is lost. For Need for Speed: Rivals, offline play is still there. But the bigger issue of game preservation is far from over.
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