As previously mentioned, Gamespy's new owners, Glu, found themselves in a sticky situation recently. There was a great deal of buzz among gaming circles, regarding a number of games' online components going dark last week. Seeming a lot like a typical new management restructure, the shutdowns affected Neverwinter Nights, SWAT 4 and the original Sniper Elite. Jason Kingsley, head of Rebellion had some pointed things to say on the subject. But Gamespy's tech people have rallied their forces via Facebook to launch a defensive.

"There have been a number of reports regarding the recent discontinuation of service to several online multiplayer games previously supported by GameSpy Technologies," they said. "We recognize that fans of games where the publisher has elected to discontinue GameSpy Technologies support are frustrated. However, reports that GameSpy Technologies ‘shutdown servers without warning’ are simply inaccurate."

According to them, the problem lays in that some publishers have simply stopped paying for server space. With some backlogs dating as far back as not only months, but several years. If this is true, whilst it's still disappointing to see Gamespy pull the plug, can we really blame them? Customer service goes only so far when the bills arrive at the end of the month.

Mister Kingsley remains adamant that the blame lays entirely with Gamespy, whilst BioWare have remained dubiously silent. Six of one, half a dozen of the others? The only thing we know for sure at this stage, there are some very angry fans out there. It's an unfortunate turn if events, that's for sure. But let's face it, it had to happen eventually.