Electronic Arts announced today that they will be shutting down the online servers for over a dozen titles, including some games that are less than two years old and one, EA Sports MMA, that actually charged preowned purchasers for online play through an Online Pass system.

In a statement announcing the pending move, EA said the decision would allow its server support staff to move into positions that could help more players. "As games get replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the older games dwindles to a level—fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles—where it's no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these games up and running," the company wrote.

"We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games," the statement continues. "We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage."

The first round of shutdowns will occur on March 31, and will include iOS titles Battlefield 3: Aftershock , Fantasy Safari, and Ghost Harvest. A larger group will be shut down on April 15, including: Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii), Burnout Revenge (Xbox 360), EA Create (PC, Mac, Wii, PS3, 360), EA Sports Active 2.0 (PS3, Wii, 360), EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp (Wii), FIFA 10 (PSP, Wii), Godfather 2 (PC, PS3, 360), EA Sports MMA (PS3, 360), Need for Speed Prostreet (PS3, 360), The Saboteur (PS3, 360), and Spare Parts (PS3, 360).

The online components of these games will be unplayable after the server shutdowns, leaving owners with a game that's effectively less functional than the one they originally purchased and likely spurring arguments over just how much support a company owes its paying customers after the initial purchase, even if few of those players happen to still be active online.

The issue is made more complex now that EA has begun shutting down online servers for titles like EA Sports MMA, which require gamers who purchased pre-owned copies to pay a fee to play online, as part of the now-infamous Project 10 Dollar. A used gamer that purchased an Online Pass yesterday will effective paying $10 for less than a month of online gameplay—roughly 40 cents a day.