Summary
- Servers for WWE 2K23, NHL 20, and Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem will be shut down by the end of September, leaving achievements unattainable.
- Developers may pull the plug on online games due to small player bases or lack of profitability.
Several games are having their servers shut down by the end of September, including WWE 2K23, giving players only a matter of weeks to earn any achievements that require online play before they are discontinued forever. In addition to WWE 2K23, two more games are having their servers shutdown, namely NHL 20 and the action RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.
An unfortunate eventuality for online games is that they rarely last forever, as developers and publishers may choose to pull the plug on games with smaller player bases or that have lost their profitability. A lot of gamers are already reeling from the recent loss of the Xbox 360 online store, and now, a few games are losing their online functionality forever, making a slew of player achievements completely unavailable.
September 30 is Going To Be A Sad Day for WWE 2K Fans
Monday, September 30 is set to be a particularly sad day for fans of the WWE 2K wrestling game franchise.
The news comes from the Xbox community site True Achievements, which shared a list of server closures for September 2024 on the platform, confirming the shutdown of four separate online servers across three games. Fortunately, there is still some time for completionists to go online and earn the last few achievements they may need in the games' online modes, though they will have to act fast, since the closures are meant to happen starting September 3.
Several Games Lose Online Functionality Next Month
- Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem - September 3
- NHL 20 - September 16
- WWE 2K23 (Xbox Series X and Xbox One) - September 30
Despite the WWE video game franchise hitting a rough patch in recent years, WWE 2K23 currently sits at a Very Positive rating on Steam, seemingly winning back many of the fans turned off by the dismal release of WWE 2K20 a few years back. However, as WWE 2K24 released earlier this year, publisher 2K is seemingly focusing all efforts on that title and removing online functionality from its predecessor.
The reasoning for EA pulling the plug on NHL 20 is likely a result of its age, since the game has seen four follow-up titles since its release, and many players have moved on to later entries, leaving the 2019 iteration behind. As for the Diablo-like action RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, the reasoning seems similar, as the game currently has only over 50 active players on Steam.
Fortunately for completionists out there who like to earn all the achievements in their games, Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem only has one achievement requiring online play. As for the rest, fans are likely to have a much harder time, since the titles in question require online play for many of its features, with NHL 20 losing access to at least 22 achievements after the servers are taken down.
WWE video games have always been popular, as the over-the-top action of pro wrestling makes for great gaming fun, especially with friends.
2K Sports began publishing WWE games in 2013 and have taken the series down a more serious, simulation-style route. The franchise looked to be dead and buried after the disastrous WWE 2K20, though it seems to have found its feet again.