We’re now just five days away from Battlefield Hardline multiplayer ceasing to function on Xbox and PlayStation. Servers go offline for good on Monday, 22nd June.
EA revealed its intention to take the Battlefield Hardline servers offline back in March, announcing a two-stage sunsetting of the cop-themed, 2015 Battlefield spin-off. The game and its DLC were removed from sale 22nd May, in preparation for the server shutdown a month later.
The shutdown will leave only Hardline’s single-player campaign playable on consoles. Though you can no longer buy a copy, Battlefield Hardline remains part of the EA Play line-up. If you own it digitally, you’ll still be able to download and play the campaign offline.
If there’s any good news here it’s that the PC version is unaffected. Hardline can still be purchased directly from EA through its own launcher, as well as through Steam.
Servers also remain online for PC players, though SteamDB shows that it has fewer than 50 daily players on Steam, but the news could spur renewed interest in the game. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time this week a dying game has seen a resurgence of players coming back to say goodbye.
In fact, EA could bring players back if it heavily discounts the game. EA has done this multiple times in the past, with Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5 both being recent examples.
Battlefield Hardline is one of the strangest Battlefield off-shoots – and that includes Battlefield Heroes with its uncharacteristically cartoony art style. Developed by Dead Space creator Visceral, it replaced the military/war theatre the series is known for with a law enforcement setting that pitted the police against criminals. Though the game attempted to find civilian equivalents to some of its military gadgets, it mostly played out like a normal Battlefield game, albeit with lesser emphasis on armoured vehicles.
As maligned as its single-player campaign was, multiplayer was better received by the Battlefield community. Players didn’t stick with it long-term, however, making some of its last DLC addons nearly unplayable at launch due to lack of players.
Hardline is credited with introducing inventive solutions to certain Battlefield problems, some of which – like the ability to resupply ammo from a nearby Support player – made it into later, non-Visceral-developed titles. It’s likely going to be remembered for offering some fun modes, such as Hotwire, which were ironically the most different from mainline Battlefield.
Some of these sentiments are reflected in the Eurogamer review, which you should read if you’re curious about the game’s reception, particularly given the political climate it was released in.
