Dark Souls 2 On PS3 And Xbox 360 Is Finally Shutting Down After All These Years

FromSoftware has revealed plans to close down the servers for its long-standing game, Dark Souls 2, on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, effective March 31, 2024. Simultaneously, the servers for Armored Core: Verdict Day will also be deactivated on the same date. However, players will still be able to play solo, as both games will remain accessible offline beyond the shutdown date.

FromSoftware disclosed the schedule for shutting down the online servers through Dark Souls’ official X account (formerly Twitter). At precisely 5 a.m. PT, multiplayer activities for Dark Souls 2 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will cease. Fortunately, the positive aspect is that online servers for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One will remain unaffected.

The #DarkSouls2 PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will shut down on March 31, 2024.

A message stating that online play is disabled will be displayed. Offline play will still be possible.

PC, PS4 & Xbox One servers will not be affected.

Thank you to those who have played since launch.

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) December 22, 2023

Moreover, in the same go on March 31, 2024, FromSoftware will close down the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 servers of Armored Core: Verdict Day as well. In this case, the multiplayer mode will be gone completely since the game was never released on any other platforms. The publisher also conveyed gratitude to fans who remained dedicated for the 10 years following the game’s launch.

Moving forward, the discontinuation of multiplayer features in games that have been around for over a decade is becoming a commonplace occurrence. The advent of modern technologies has prompted players to migrate to contemporary servers, leaving older ones with dwindling populations and creating an additional challenge for developers to maintain them. Consequently, a shutdown becomes inevitable sooner or later.

Dark Souls 2 is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware. The game was initially released in 2014 globally on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, quickly becoming one of the greatest games of the soul-like genre. With a GOTY award at The Golden Joystick Awards 2014 and 3 nominations at The Game Awards including the GOTY in the same year, the RPG sold a million copies in the USA and Europe just weeks after release.  

Considering its popularity, publisher Bandai Namco released an updated version, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, in 2015, extending to the original platforms with additional PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports.