For the first time in twenty years there will not be an official America’s Army title on the market after May 5th, 2022. The development team announced the news last Friday that the current operating title, America’s Army: Proving Grounds, will be shut down and removed from the PlayStation Store and Steam in just a few months. The Army’s full post reads:
After 8 Years of hard-fought battles, we say goodbye to Czervenia and withdraw our forces. On May 5th, 2022, support and official servers for America’s Army: Proving Grounds will be shut down. All online services for America’s Army: Proving Grounds on the PlayStation™Network will discontinue.
Read below for more details on how the shutdown will affect the game on your platform.
For PSN Players
The PlayStation™Store page for America’s Army: Proving Grounds will be removed, and the game will no longer be available to download. Players that choose to keep AA:PG in their library will not be able to access the Play Online feature and player stats will no longer be available. Offline features are expected to function.For Steam Players
Privately owned servers, the Mission Editor, and offline features are expected to function, but player stats will no longer be available. Official servers will be shut down.
User login, player stats, and other resources on the America’s Army website will no longer be available.
Thank you to everyone who played AA:PG, and thank you to those who still enjoy it. While support and servers are still active, we encourage you to dive into matches with your battle buddies and continue the mission. More details will be shared as information becomes available, so please stay tuned.
Sincerely, The America’s Army Team
Launched in July of 2002, the original America’s Army client evolved into what would be known as America’s Army 2. In 2009 an updated and standalone sequel, America’s Army 3, was released on Steam. While the page was removed from search sometime in 2019, the game is still accessible and can be downloaded today. Since at least 2010 the series’ dedicated community has offered ASSIST, a client and servers to continue playing older versions of the game.
The decision to shut down Proving Grounds likely has to do with popularity and player counts which have been dwindling over the last several years. As a recruitment tool it’s probably rarely cited these days as the reason someone took an interest in the Army. While the team doesn’t appear to have a new title in the works, their latest statement does leave some hope for fans, closing with “we look forward to what the future could hold for AA, and encourage you to stay tuned for future announcements on the series”.
Until May 5th you can still jump into the full game for free on both Steam and PlayStation 4. I’ve added the date to the Watch List calendar and will have pages for the series up on the site later.