Sometimes, it just sucks to be an online gamer. In the instance of fans of Capcom’s Monster Hunter and Resident Evil: Outbreak games for the PlayStation 2, that time is December 31st, 2007.

Earlier today, Capcom brought forth the sad news on their blog that the (seemingly nameless) external company hired to support the online capabilities for two of Capcom’s top franchises will be pulling the plug at the end of the year, exiting the PS2 online business altogether after more than three years of providing service to virtual hunters of monsters and zombies alike.

Fortunately, unlike the ill-fated Steel Battalion: Line of Contact for the original Xbox, whose gameplay was limited strictly to online combat, the offline single-player campaigns for both Outbreak and Monster Hunter will remain intact and unaffected by this announcement, though one might suppose it’s purely subjective as to just how great a consolation that would be to owners of these two titles.

Capcom adds that, while these were indeed older titles from their catalog (relatively speaking, anyway), they did want to make an effort to keep their fans happy in continuing support for online play. Doing what they could, they attempted to extend the contract, to have it transferred elsewhere, but it was to no avail. Their hosting partner is quitting the business entirely, and apparently can’t be bothered to expend the time or effort to port the service somewhere else, and so everyone else can apparently go screw. Thanks, nameless/faceless company!

From Capcom, however, they wish to thank everyone who “kept these games fun online for so many years.” And with all due respect, I’m sure at least a few gamers will hope that Capcom picks a better partner with which to support any future online ventures.

Tags: Capcom, monster-hunter, online, outbreak

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