EA Tells iOS Rock Band Fans Their Game Will Vanish

Written by: QuintLyn Bowers (@QuintLyn) | May 2, 2012 12:01 pm

69 Comments

An iOS screenshot of a message from EA to Rock Band fans has been making its way around the internet thanks to a poster on Reddit. The message is brief and to the point saying:

“Dear Rockers, On May 31, Rock Band will no longer be playable on your device. Thanks for rocking out with us.”

Prior to that message there was no indication that the app which sells for $4.99 on the app store and comes with 30 songs included would expire. I have checked the app store and as of this writing the app is even still available for purchase with no indication that it will be going away in less than a month.

When Kotaku asked Harmonix if they knew anything about it, Harmonix’s response was that EA Mobile is responsible for that app and they’re reaching out to them to find out what’s going on. So, it appears iOS Rock Band players are not the only ones unaware of this change.

Several people have expressed concerns about the legality of all of this as well as why Apple would allow this to happen on their store. The concern is warranted as EA being able to do this sets a precedence for other companies to be able to as well.

Chances are Apple may be just as unaware of the situation but there is a way for customers to reach out and let them know about this and find out what — if anything — Apple will be doing about it.

Email Tim Cook, CEO of Apple at tcook@apple.com and let him know what’s happening.

Fans who want an answer directly from EA Mobile may have to wait as their support site has been “disabled for the time being”.

EA Tells iOS Rock Band Fans Their Game Will Vanish

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1 comment

djsjr

Nice headset, Mike xD
- Ryan Brown
  
  I didn’t even notice! Where are the buds?
http://twitter.com/AesirValkyr Aesir Valkyr

This is another reason not to buy EA Games. Class Action lawsuit coming soon?
http://www.facebook.com/dorpele11 Dor Peled

Haven’t played any of EA games for a while now,
EVIL CORPORATION!
They do not know how to treat their costumers.
http://twitter.com/HallusH HallusH

EA proves to the the best worst company!!!!!
think mass effect will be the last game i got on origin.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ricardo-Velez/100000543798316 Ricardo Velez

I used to be a little skeptical when buying a game with a EA logo on it. Now, I will NOT buy anything with the EA logo on it. Basically, like you said, if other games aren’t making money for them you’re out 60 dollars plus DLC. Imagine if that happened with movies, well The Matrix is a few years old now and not making us money so now all the dvds will not work anymore. EA is ruining gaming. My only wish is I hope other people see how bad EA treats people and stop supporting them.
H S

I smell class action.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Everyone here who knows a civil attorney should point this out to them.
http://twitter.com/alaskawinter923 Andrew F. Saxton

EAsy scam
RockBandAide

As we brought the news to light of this yesterday (quite a bit before Reddit ever got a hold of the news), you should probably know that EA is actually the primary developer of the iOS Rock Band apps, not Harmonix (who are listed as the “co-developer,” but were relatively hands off).

Also, there is another newer Rock Band app called Rock Band Reloaded that is still available (for now?).
- http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers
  
  My apologies… I traced back from where we initially found the story and it led to the Reddit post. I’ll make a note in the article.
  
  And yes.. We mentioned that Harmonix said they had nothing to do with this particular app, to the point that EA didn’t even both to tell them they were shutting it down.
  
  I did see Rock Band Reloaded on the store. I wasn’t sure what was going on with that. Thanks for the info.
http://twitter.com/Xelophant5 Xelophant

I think what needs to happen at this point is that all the other companies EA has bought up should have their members quit and all go form a new company to develop better quality games. All those old companies used to be great developers of games I truly enjoyed and it would be a mighty blow to the giant.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  This is what happens when game companies get BIG. EA used to be about making great games, just as Activison was. Activision was founded by refugees from Atari. They have become the enemy they rebelled against.
  
  MMOFringe
BattleRealm

I’d say their stock was going to drop, but I don’t think it can get any lower after the SWTOR/ME3 stuff.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Hamilton/1150725720 Ryan Hamilton

EA has always been out of touch :
http://twitter.com/coreyctom Corey

Mike, it’s funny you tell them to go look at Valve. I dunno if you’ve seen this, but I just recently read through the Valve new employee handbook (google “Valve Handbook pdf” and it should be the second pdf result). EA shouldn’t look at Valve just for how they treat their customers, they should look at Valve on how to operate as a whole. They don’t have to copy what Valve does, it obviously wouldn’t work for a company their size, but EA is known for treating their employees just as bad as their consumers.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Valve is still a profit-driven company. Gabe doesn’t love us.
  
  I guarantee that SOMEONE at Valve is studying EA’s business methods.
christopher murray

As long as people keep buying FIFA and Madden every year EA doesn’t care about you.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Truth.
http://www.MiniProject.co.uk/ Thomas Renshaw

Ive never liked Rockband..etc but this is just stupid!..i know people wont but people should boycott EA :/
- jazzbrownie
  
  I do, as do my close friends. The more the merrier.
http://twitter.com/HallusH HallusH

p.s. if EA shotsdown darkspore i’ll sure slap a B..
Ryan Brown

I occasionally read EULAs, and they tend to be completely insane. One of them was even worded in such a way that I technically don’t even own the box the game came in. It always boils down to “we’ve got you over a barrel, now trust us not to screw you.” It’s actually understandable to some extent because it’s an intellectual property, and giving “ownership” of a copy of an intellectual property is very different from giving ownership of a copy of a physical object like a car. Hopefully, though, there will be a change in the mindset of consumers that makes us look for a commitment from the publisher in the EULA before spending our money on the license.
Tyrnan

So this is the same as if you bought a game from EA on disc, they decide after a while that they’re not going to sell the game any more, but then they come round your house and take the disc back?

Someone please tell me I’m misinterpreting this. Surely even EA can’t be that batshit crazy?
- http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers
  
  With everything having to play through Origin, they may not have to take the disk back.. Just shut it off.
  - Tyrnan
    
    Ah true, I’d forgotten about Origin (or managed to erase it from my mind ).
    
    I just meant in principle though, they’re basically denying you access to a game you bought from them despite it requiring no online connectivity to play?
  - MMO_Doubter
    
    Correct, and the goal of this ‘always online’ design is to eventually get people to pay sub fees for single player games.
    
    MMOFringe
Jado Cast

Not surprised. EA cares nothing about its customers.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Right, but it’s not just EA.
Sharuko

How does EA think this is acceptable?
http://twitter.com/Bempa24 Benni Nord

Friend of mine said that this is what EA could do with BF3 once they want to make BF4, and I was all like naaa look at all those other BF games that are still playable.. now Im not so sure anymore… especially since they are pushing origin and their web based inteface so hard…
http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

Does EA have some jacked up license agreement for IP? Do they low ball the IP fees in the first few years of an IP and include some type of balloon fees? This sounds like some attempt to avoid a massive royalty payment.

MikeB, you did a great job handling the rage you wanted to express.
http://twitter.com/TheOpapanax Most Morbid One

Electronic Arts SMMFH..

I actually have this app on my Andriod..

I still play it when I think about it.. I would’ve been super pissed just finding this out some bs trying to play the game.

They might as well start handing out the refunds for SWTOR.. Cause this boat is not only taking water its taking on alot of garbage too.. wtf
http://twitter.com/greencactaur green cactaur

Thats exactly what they’re doing Tyrnan. They have NO sense of dignity, and treat their customers like shit. Mark my words EA there will come a time where you get BURNED to the ground because of this exact issue.
http://twitter.com/H3L1ON H3L1ON

And this is why i NEVER EVER buy game’s from EA, eventualy they screw you over.
But the thing that i hate the most about them is they swallow smaller game companies like
Bullfrog that make revolutionary games like Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2 and instead of letting them make a sequel they put them on games like Harry Potter i mean srsly?
why screw ppl over with a mediocer game, just becuz the movies where good dosent mean the game will.
Whitin 10 years nobady remebers those games while good games like Dungeon Keeper still live on 15 years after they where released or instead giving or selling the IP to another company like Lionhead, NO they rather keep the IP and never let it see day light again.
GG EA…
Mike Johnson

QUIT. GIVING. THEM. MONEY
http://www.facebook.com/andrew.schembri.14 Andrew Schembri

harmonix, and rock band are now being punished by MADCATZ. as you’d see if you bought a newer copy of rock band 3, so as far as i and my rock band fan friends know of harmonix can do nothing but MAYBE make a replacement app. still doesn’t make EA less assholes, but you can see how from a corporate level it make sense, there not going to publish an app that’s advertisement for a competitors game.
http://twitter.com/brent3175 Brent Czupowski

Well I guess AC/DC was wrong.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Romphf/100000178102469 Mark Romphf

Haven’t bought Mass Effect 3 or Battlefield 3 yet because of Origin. I was all ready to buy Mass Effect 3 during the next seasonal Steam sale but OH WAIT…
http://twitter.com/Perro_de_Pelea KampfHund

The sad thing is, it’s a licence, so this shit can actually happen.

A licence is not a contract, it’s a set of unilateral obligations. As the licensee, you and I have no power. They owe us nothing.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  That would not stand in court. Just a matter of time before the lawyers start in on these game companies.
kaijuguy

Wake up people. How is this news? Out of touch with gamers? ….no….gamers are out of touch with the industry because they are too concerned with consumption. The entire entertainment industry is heading this way. This is the model that games have been slowly adopting, with the threat that the entire console industry will be tethered by the internet. When you make purchases of digital services / apps / games / music / movies ….you don’t actually OWN ANYTHING. You own USAGE RIGHTS…so keep spending on apps, itunes, and cloud services…keep ditching your physical media for convenience…YOU are the problem. The solution lies in YOUR HANDS. SUPPORT PHYSICAL UNRESTRICTED MEDIA.
- http://twitter.com/Nipper1184 Nipper
  
  physical media is simply not an option for mmo’s or indie games. any game with multiplayer requires internet. your physical copy of mass effect 3 does not stop EA from forcing the game to always be online. our only hope to stop companies like EA from doing stuff like this is to show them we won’t tolerate it by not buying anymore of their games. they WILL change to keep us buying.
Krzysztof Kotarba

so soon we will only rent games not buy them… I think we need Ragnarök in gaming industry…
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Absolutely.
  
  The industry needs to burn down a ways to scare the weasels and opportunists into another line of work.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=556370350 Jason Keizer

good way to get people to stop buying any games from a developer
ChristopherMitchell1

Le sigh, I see EA isn’t going to take my advice on how to redeem their customer trust >.>
http://www.facebook.com/people/Steve-Connors/636500420 Steve Connors

It’s crap like this that got EA the worst video game company “award”
http://twitter.com/DaPhoolz Rp TheFoolz

EA is the Legendary Gamebreaker? xD
http://twitter.com/benjamintlc Benjamin Crowther

Im pretty sure EA think that we should be happy they were nice enough to let us access their game in the first place
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746703671 Michael Boyd

Screw EA.
http://www.facebook.com/chaz.rpg Chaz Davis

“whatever color you chose at the end”

lol Mike B is just awesome
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Eggers/100000868131517 Kyle Eggers

New ahead phones Mike?
jazzbrownie

Everyone knows this is bullshit. I just hope people will vote where it counts – with their wallets. Stop giving them your money, and let them know why.

I wonder how their P.R. are going to spin this one. ”Limited time only, just 4.99!”
http://www.facebook.com/london.clemons London Clemons

Fuck EA. I can tell you that buying any of their games will be the last thing I want to do. They are constantly pulling shit like this, and it’s insane. People need to stop giving them money.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001063083712 Dmitry Grushka

I’m not really surprised, not the first time EA does such things.
http://twitter.com/tyrogs Björn

Warning! Me3 spoilers in here^^
http://www.MasterRenny.com/ Thomas Renshaw

EA needs to be teached this isn’t acceptable… Also reminds me of how much south park got the company right on how they treat people…. But unless the majority of people stop buying EA games, they will continue to take the piss and pull stuff like this :/…
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Agreed, but it is “taught”, not “teached”.
Grant Butler

LMAO this report is like a Tsunami just happened and they’re reporting on it…. who cares it’s only a game and it wasn’t even good!
- Tyrnan
  
  Attitudes like that are the reason they try to pull shit like this. It’s not about whether the game is good or not, it’s about having something you bought and paid for taken away from you by the company on a whim. If they get away with something like this, what will they try next?
- H S
  
  so if your monitor maker just sent a message on your screen your monitor will no longer work after this week, you’d be fine with that?
http://twitter.com/borded nathan law

well everyone who got this app, you have a $5 guilt free EA piracy voucher. go grab some dlc or something.
H S

LOL, now they claim it was an “error”. Boy, that graphic was created by an error, some trick huh?
http://profile.yahoo.com/M7ED4QNDQLRKAJQS7FZCNTDHIY Matt

This reminds me of something that happened to me a few years ago. I bought video and music downloads from a site that had DRM built into them. Sure there were/are work arounds to copy the files and strip the DRM from them, but I didn’t do that for all the files. Eventually, the site shut down and I was/am no longer able to access them. I had paid for the files, but now couldn’t use them because they required authentication from a now non-existing site. There was no big, huge, flashing statement saying that this would happen when I first bought the files, but I’m sure it was mentioned in some long EULA that I (like most people) didn’t read.

So long story short, this is really nothing new. It may seem new when it comes to games, but this sort of thing has been going on for years when dealing with digital content.
MysticLlamaMan

EA sure knows how to treat their customers, employees and ip. What a great company, just top notch!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7UCDEUKEHKZZCEGBRAQAKTOFOY The Undeniable Truth

Boycott EA. Complaining about it does no good, tell them you are unhappy in the only language they understand.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=642553339 Sven Erik Reinumets

One more reason to say.. Yarr I’m a pirate…
windfall259

EA has since backtracked on that comment, so everyone can rest easy on the Rock Band thing.

On a related note, you guys should post updates when necessary, not with video, but just a quick write-up at the end of the article.

EA Tells iOS Rock Band Fans Their Game Will Vanish

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