Aliens: Fireteam Elite on Nintendo Switch Shut Down With No Refunds, as Owners Become the Latest Victims of Gaming's Increasingly Digital Future
Aliens: Fireteam Elite has had its cloud servers shut down, leaving Nintendo Switch owners unable to play the game without any form of refund.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite, a Nintendo Switch game released in 2023, has shut down its cloud servers, leaving owners unable to play without a refund. The shutdown follows Square Enix's 2023 launch of the game and comes just as PlayStation announced it would no longer produce new PS5 games on disc from 2028. The loss of another digital service sparks discussions about the rise of cloud-based gaming and the potential loss of permanently playable physical copies.
Cold Iron Studios, the game's developer, sees no issue with fans purchasing the upcoming Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 for Nintendo Switch 2, but some fans argue that they should at least receive refunds for the shut-down game. Unlike digital game delistings, cloud games are only accessible via remote servers, and owners have no protection if access is later removed.
Nintendo has not announced plans to discontinue physical game sales, though it still sells more than a third of its games in boxed form.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
