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Back in 2014, GameSpy shut down their online services for good. This affected far more games than you may have realized, including Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, and Battlefield Heroes.
Without GameSpy, these games didn't have an easy way for anybody to play online. That's kind of a problem for games that are literally multiplayer only affairs. Since then, some user created mods popped up that aimed to replace the now defunct GameSpy. One of these mods was called Revive Network. Revive Network allowed those Battlefield owners to play online with random players in addition to the friends and communities they formed over the years. That sounds pretty great in the absence of any official replacement from EA.
Oh, but here's the catch with this. Revive Network also allowed anybody to download the Battlefield game clients, regardless of if you actually purchased any of these games back in the day. Yeah, that's probably not a good thing to do without permission, even if the games are effectively dead and no longer being sold.
What does EA do? Well, they stop Revive Network from distributing the game clients for these old Battlefield titles. Makes sense.
The team at Revive Network were sent a legal notice by EA's lawyers. Below is the notice as it appears currently on the Revive Network website (including redactions).
From my understanding, the Revive Network launcher and its servers are still free to operate as normal. This means that they are more than welcome to keep the multiplayer for these old Battlefield games alive. They just can't, you know, freely give out entire game clients and infringe on the IPs like they were.
Without GameSpy, these games didn't have an easy way for anybody to play online. That's kind of a problem for games that are literally multiplayer only affairs. Since then, some user created mods popped up that aimed to replace the now defunct GameSpy. One of these mods was called Revive Network. Revive Network allowed those Battlefield owners to play online with random players in addition to the friends and communities they formed over the years. That sounds pretty great in the absence of any official replacement from EA.
Oh, but here's the catch with this. Revive Network also allowed anybody to download the Battlefield game clients, regardless of if you actually purchased any of these games back in the day. Yeah, that's probably not a good thing to do without permission, even if the games are effectively dead and no longer being sold.
What does EA do? Well, they stop Revive Network from distributing the game clients for these old Battlefield titles. Makes sense.
The team at Revive Network were sent a legal notice by EA's lawyers. Below is the notice as it appears currently on the Revive Network website (including redactions).
Dear [REDACTED],
I write on behalf of Electronic Arts Inc. and its development studio DICE or, in other words, "those guys that make Battlefield."
We've noticed that Revive Network has several projects and websites devoted to being a Medic by "reviving" older Battlefield games, including Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield 2, and Battlefield 2142. Its great to see your enthusiasm for these titles. Not to brag, but we too get the nostalgia chills when booting up these classic entries in the Battlefield franchise.
We need a favor though: we must ask that you stop throwing down Ammo Crates. In other, more legal-styled terms, please stop distributing copies of our game clients and using our trademarks, logos, and artwork on your sites. Thing is, your websites may easily mislead visitors to believe that you are associated or affiliated with EA - we're the only ones that get to wear the "Official EA" dog tag. Since you're Battlefield community members, we know that you are smart and helpful, and will respect that we must protect our intellectual property rights in the franchise.
Please drop us a line to let us know you're on board with this. Should you have any questions regarding all this, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at [REDACTED]@ea.com.
Thanks,
[REDACTED]
IP Counsel
Electronic Arts Inc.
I write on behalf of Electronic Arts Inc. and its development studio DICE or, in other words, "those guys that make Battlefield."
We've noticed that Revive Network has several projects and websites devoted to being a Medic by "reviving" older Battlefield games, including Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield 2, and Battlefield 2142. Its great to see your enthusiasm for these titles. Not to brag, but we too get the nostalgia chills when booting up these classic entries in the Battlefield franchise.
We need a favor though: we must ask that you stop throwing down Ammo Crates. In other, more legal-styled terms, please stop distributing copies of our game clients and using our trademarks, logos, and artwork on your sites. Thing is, your websites may easily mislead visitors to believe that you are associated or affiliated with EA - we're the only ones that get to wear the "Official EA" dog tag. Since you're Battlefield community members, we know that you are smart and helpful, and will respect that we must protect our intellectual property rights in the franchise.
Please drop us a line to let us know you're on board with this. Should you have any questions regarding all this, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at [REDACTED]@ea.com.
Thanks,
[REDACTED]
IP Counsel
Electronic Arts Inc.
From my understanding, the Revive Network launcher and its servers are still free to operate as normal. This means that they are more than welcome to keep the multiplayer for these old Battlefield games alive. They just can't, you know, freely give out entire game clients and infringe on the IPs like they were.