Since 1999, GameSpy has provided hosting service for hundreds of games. Those times, however, seem to be coming to an end, as GameSpy announced on April 3rd that it will shut down its hosting services on May 31st. This news affects thousands of titles that use the hosting services for their online components.
GameSpy has worked with over 800 publishers, going as far as providing the infrastructure Nintendo’s Wii and DS online play. Gamesindustry.biz points out this might be the reason for Nintendo’s recent announcement that it will stop providing online play for these platforms in May 20th.
The full extent this will have on games that were powered by GameSpy is hard to calculate, as many developers are looking for alternative solutions for their titles. It is very much guaranteed that this will hit most older games that use the infrastructure provided by GameSpy. It is sad to bid good bye to a service that has been with us for these past 14 years. Thanks for the good times GameSpy!
