FIFA 15 servers officially shut down as FIFA 22 release date draws closer

FIFA, despite releasing games every single year, maintains a strong player base for even some of its oldest titles. Eventually, however, these games are shut down and a lot of the features become inaccessible. That time has finally come for FIFA 15, with FIFA 22 on the horizon.

FIFA 22 is set to be released in early October, so the countdown is officially on. Unfortunately for those still playing 15, the game (while not being totally unplayable) is having its servers shut down.

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FIFA 15 servers finally shut down

FIFA 22 is set to arrive on October 1, and while there still being several active versions of the game, EA has decided to pull the plug on the oldest one. FIFA 15, which is seven years old, is finally shutting down.

It should be noted that this won't render the game unplayable. Players who still have a copy will still be able to open the game and play it, just without several features.

Sports games often have the dubious reputation for charging $60 USD for a new roster and that's it. To circumvent this, players often design the updated rosters and release them for download within the older versions of the game. This allows for updated teams and players without the massive price tag.

That's one feature that will no longer be active since FIFA 15's servers are shut down. Additionally, FIFA Ultimate Team and any form of online play will no longer be accessible. Essentially, the game will no longer have any online features available to it, but offline play will still be possible.

Offline play will still be active, but anything online will be shut down with the release of FIFA 22. Image via EA

As for the future, FIFA 16 players can likely expect those servers to shut down when FIFA 23 arrives. For 17, it'll likely be when 24 arrives, and so on and so forth. These kind of games, unlike others, do not have eternal shelf lives. Older games that didn't have many online capabilities will last forever and remain mostly unchanged, but games that focus on the internet will not.