Gamespy support: RIP 2012/10/08
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:14 pm
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.
-- GSH
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.
-- GSH