Fans of Fight Night Round 4 were sent an email, notifying them that the game's online servers will be shutting down in the near future. Electronic Arts stated that March 9, 2020 will be the last day fans will be able to fight online.
The email came late on December 10, and the decision was made reportedly because, “The daily active player base in Fight Night Round 4 has reached a very low number.” The email further stated that fans of the game will still be able to use all of the game’s offline functions.
Fight Night Round 4 is regarded as a great boxing simulator. The game was met with great reviews when it was first released and still sits as an eighty-eight on Metacritic. For the game's follow-up, Fight Night Champion, Game Rant rated it a 4.5/5, calling it, “one of most addictive sports titles.”
Fight Night Round 4 was originally released on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, on June 25, 2009. Since the player base has decreased over the years, Electronics Arts is unable to "ensure a quality online experience." Running a server costs money due to maintenance and since the player base is low, the company has likely decided that money would be put to better use somewhere else. Its online servers will be shut off just three months shy of its eleven-year birthday. For fans of the Fight Night franchise that want to continue playing online, Fight Night Champion servers will not be affected.
For fans wanting an iteration of the Fight Night franchise on modern hardware, EA has yet to announce any plans to release another boxing game. Since EA has acquired the licence to produce Ultimate Fighting Championship games in 2012, the Fight Night franchise has sat dormant. As of 2019, Electronic Arts has released three UFC games, all of which were released on current generation consoles.
EA’s Fight Night franchise first appeared on the original Xbox and the PlayStation 2 back in 2004, with the sequel, Fight Night Round 2 coming just one year later. The third installment, Fight Night Round 3, was the first time the company released the boxing simulator on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Not many boxing games have been as well received as every installment on this franchise has. The Fight Night franchise recently made Game Rant's list of the best boxing games ever made.
Fight Night Round 4 is currently available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Source: Metacritic/ Fight Night Round 4