Earth & Beyond Says Goodbye
Starting September 22, 2004, Earth & Beyond will no longer be in service. After an amazing two years of galactic adventure, Electronic Arts has made the decision to close Earth & Beyond in order to focus resources on future games.

Please check your email associated with your Earth & Beyond game account for updates and more information on what this closure means to you. We hope you've enjoyed the game as much as we have and that we'll see you again in another great EA game!


For more information, please visit www.enb.com.


Thank you,
The Earth & Beyond Team

FAQ

Q: When is the last day of billing now that Earth and Beyond has announced its Sunset?
A: After 08/01/04, no accounts will be billed for the remainder of time that EARTH AND BEYOND is available. If you have an active account, you may continue to play EARTH AND BEYOND for free until the servers are disconnected. If your credit card is billed after 08/01/04 for EARTH AND BEYOND Online related services, we strongly urge you to contact our Billing department at 1.866.543.5435 (24 hours per day). International customers outside the United States may call 1.512.434.6740 (9:00a to 6:00p Central Time).

Q: Now that EARTH AND BEYOND has announced that it will be Sunset what do I do now?
A: If you are currently an active Earth and Beyond subscriber, you will be eligible to receive a free copy of Ultima Online (UO) or The Sims Online (TSO) if you are over the age of 13. Similar to EARTH AND BEYOND, these games take place in online persistent state worlds with thriving communities. Both games come with 30-day free trial period. To redeem your copy, please contact us at 1.866.543.5435 (24 hours per day) or 1.512.434.6740 (9:00a to 6:00p Central Time). if you are outside of the United States. Please note that this offer expires on 09/01/04, and your EARTH AND BEYOND account will be closed when you redeem your copy of the free game.

Q: Is the game source code available for purchase for EARTH AND BEYOND?
A: Electronic Arts does not have any plans to sell the source code for EARTH AND BEYOND.

Q: What does "Sunset" mean and how does it relate to EARTH AND BEYOND?
A: The four EARTH AND BEYOND servers (Andromeda, Pegasus, Orion, and Galileo) will continue to operate and will be maintained until 09/22/04. Starting 09/22/04, 12:01 AM GMT, these servers will be disconnected and no players will be able to log into them. Please note that GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time. Depending on where you are located, 12:01 AM GMT on 09/22/04 might be 09/21/04 in your local area.

Q: Will the message boards remain active after the EARTH AND BEYOND Sunset announcement has been made?
A: The message boards have always been an integral experience for the Earth and Beyond Online community. As a result, the message boards will continue to operate until 09/22/04.

Q: Why did EARTH AND BEYOND have to Sunset?
A: After an amazing two years of galactic adventure, Electronic Arts has made the decision to close Earth & Beyond in order to focus resources on future games.

Q: Why can't I buy a 90 or 180 day game time code?
A: 90 & 180 day game time codes have been removed from our purchase plan to ensure that customers do not pay for time that will not be available due to the Sunset of EARTH AND BEYOND. You will still be able to purchase 30 & 60 day game time codes or use a credit card to maintain your EARTH AND BEYOND subscription.

Q: Why don't I have the option to activate my new account with a 90 or 180 day game time code?
A: This option was removed to prevent players from starting an account and paying 90 & 180 day game time codes that would not be redeemable due to the Sunset of EARTH AND BEYOND. You will still be able to purchase 30 & 60 day game time codes or use a credit card to maintain your EARTH AND BEYOND subscription until 08/01/04. All billing will end on that date.

Q: Are you going to patch more content?
A: No, the E&B content team is moving on to other projects. However, the server team will work to make sure E&B runs smoothly until its end date.

Q: Are you going to fix bugs?
A: We will address technical bugs that affect the operation of the game. We will not fix any bugs pertaining to content.

Q: What happened to the devs?
A: The E&B team is being moved onto several other projects, most notably Ultima X: Odyssey. Visit http://www.uxo.ea.com/ for more information.

As you probably noticed, visiting many parts of our Network has been difficult recently. Yesterday, the Internet was hit by a powerful computer worm:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/25/internet.attack/index.html

We think the worst of it has now passed and all our sites seem to be running normally again. As always, should you notice sustained problems accessing a site, let tech support know.

Sincerely,

Joost "Silverdawn" Loijens
GameSpy