Demon's Souls online services deactivating after February 2018
Demon's Souls is a PlayStation 3 action RPG game made by From Software in 2009. It was highly praised due to the very challenging difficulty and the gorgeous dark fantasy designs that From Software explored deeper into the gameplay system with Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
Among the aspects that receive favorable receptions are the online features. However, it looks like we might not be able to enjoy that for long, as Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia - as the publisher of Demon's Souls in Japan - has just today posted an announcement that online services for Demon's Souls will be deactivated, effective February 28, 2018.
Once the online server for Demon's Souls goes offline next year, the following features that utilize online connectivity will no longer be available:
- Online multiplayer (Co-op and Invasions)
- Inputting and viewing Hint Messages
- Other players’ Bloodstains (Watching replays of their deaths)
- Loitering Phantoms
- Viewing the Ranking leaderboards
As this announcement is made in Japan by SIEJA, we do not know yet if the servers will also be shut down for North America and Europe, as the game was separately published by Atlus USA and Bandai Namco respectively. Although Atlus USA posted a statement back in 2012 that they "will keep online servers going for the foreseeable future," a good five years have passed since then, so perhaps anything could still happen for the West.
UPDATE: Atlus (the original American publishers) has confirmed this to also be the case in North America, while Bandai Namco has shared the news in Europe.