US publishing giant Electronic Arts has removed five Need for Speed games from digital storefronts.

In a post on Reddit, EA community manager Max "Max_Joker" Myrus said that as of Monday just gone (May 31st), it had removed Carbon, Undercover, Shift, Shift 2 and The Run from sale, with in-game storefronts also closed from this point.

Furthermore, EA would be closing the online services of these titles from August 31st, 2021, but will still be able to play them offline from September 1st, 2021.

The publisher has made this decision due to a need to focus on more recent – and upcoming – entries in the franchise as player figures for these older games dwindles.

"Decisions to retire games are never made easy, but we are now shifting gears to focus on the future of Need for Speed," Myrus wrote.

"The development teams and operational staff have put a lot of time and passion into the development, creation, release and upkeep of the game over the years, and we love to see you play. But the number of players has come to a point where it's no longer feasible to continue the work behind the scenes required to keep Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed and Need for Speed The Run up and running."