Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08

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GSH
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Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08

Post by GSH »

On October 8, 2012, Gamespy qr2 queries started failing for BZ2.

I finally got official word back from Gamespy's developer relations, weeks after I emailed them. I don't feel that I can repost that email in public, but the summary is that Gamespy said that Activision chose to cease supporting their back catalog, which includes BZ2 and SWAT4. Due to the cancelation of the Gamespy Open program, any games not supported by publisher agreements had their Gamespy servers yanked.

Personally, I do not assume that Activision will be convinced to change their support level for BZ2. Their dumping BZ2 out to die at retail the week after Christmas 1999, and calling 1.2 an unofficial patch convinced us at Pandemic that Activision didn't care back in 1999/2000.

What this news means for the future of BZ2, it closes out the possibility that this was an accidental mistake on Gamespy's part. That focuses things somewhat. I would like to thank Gamespy for nearly 13 years of matchmaking, allowing an upgrade to Gamespy qr2, and wish them the best in the future. They supported us well, and it appears that the shutdown is due to Activision.

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Re: Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08

Post by GSH »

The story gets more interesting:
Many games, including Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Swat 4, Sniper Elite, Hidden and Dangerous 2, Wings of War, Star Wars: Battlefront are no longer able to find (and in some cases even host) multiplayer games.
[...]
We have been talking to them since to try and get the servers turned back on. We have been informed that in order to do so would cost us tens of thousands of pounds a year — far in excess of how much we were paying previously.
More links/articles here and here.

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Re: Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08

Post by GSH »

Just to provide a few more links: the latest Battlezone 2 patches replace Gamespy matchmaking with RakNet matchmaking. Install it, and forget about Gamespy.

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Re: Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08

Post by GSH »

According to this, Gamespy is closing down hosting for every title on 2014/05/31. The announcement from the master site says this:
"Effective May 31, 2014, GameSpy will cease providing all hosted services for all games still using GameSpy. If you have any questions about how this impacts your favorite title please contact the game’s publisher for more information. Thanks for a great ride!"
If I'm interpreting this correctly, then it seems like qr1 (BZ2 1.0 .. 1.3pb5.1) and qr2 (1.3.6.0-1.3.6.2) will permanently go dark on 2014/05/31.

Gamespy was a solid setup until its current owners seem to bought it only to do their best to kill it. Sadly.

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