Cold Iron Studios shut down the servers for the cloud version of Aliens: Fireteam Elite for Nintendo Switch on August 5, without offering refunds to players who paid US$ 30 for the game or US$ 60 for the Ultimate edition.
The shutdown had been announced by the developer itself in March, in a message displayed inside the game. The notice said the game would remain accessible until August 5, 2026, at 23:59 Japan time, and apologized for the inconvenience.
According to the website TheGamer, affected players are entitled to a discount on the Switch 2 version of the game. In practice, anyone who bought the original would have to pay again to keep playing.
With the shutdown, the game was removed from the store and can no longer be accessed even in offline mode.
Risks of digital purchases
Buying a digital game grants only a license to use it, which can be revoked. In previous cases, lawsuits against the shutdown of already purchased games have not succeeded.
The developer has not disclosed sales figures for the Switch version, which existed only in the cloud. The game is also available in physical media and for download on PlayStation 5 and 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
The shutdown comes weeks before the release of the sequel, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, on August 25.
