[STEAM] The video games industry wants to keep killing games, actually

[Steam 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Stop Killing Games is a gamer-led initiative aimed at preventing games from becoming unplayable if they become commercially unviable in the publisher's eyes. Most gamers approve, but it's actually getting some serious pushback straight from the Entertainment Software Association of the US.

The Stop Killing Games initiative has prompted the state of California to consider a new law, AB 1921, known as the Protect Our Games Act. The law requires companies that would shut down the online services needed to play a game to give two months' notice and either release a patch that allows players to continue playing the game (offline or on private servers) or offer a full refund.

Pretty simple stuff, which completely disproves the accusations that the Stop Killing Games initiative would force companies to keep their servers up forever. That's not it. The objective is for customers to get the option to run the games themselves, should the companies decide they no longer want to do it in-house.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

According to the recent declarations by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

the ESA is lobbying hard against the bill, using the arguments that

• Games are licensed, not owned
• Online services are complicated
• Third-party licenses expire
• Security risks exist
• This could be hard or expensive to enforce

None of that is new or unaccounted for. Stop Killing Games explains that expired third-party licenses might affect future sales and/or new versions, but that doesn't justify disabling the private use by people who'd already paid for the game. Security issues can also be handled with normal warnings, and the bill does not require the companies to reveal any exploits or sensitive technical aspects.

The initiative said, "AB 1921 is narrow. It applies to paid games going forward and gives companies options: preserve ordinary use, patch the game, or refund the purchaser.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Blindfire, a rare title that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

despite a failed launch, Image via Double Eleven The industry wants people to think this is a demand for eternal server support, with endless costs and complications.

It isn’t.

It’s much simpler:

If a company sells people a paid game, it should not be able to destroy the game’s ordinary use later without notice or remedy."

ESA's goal seems to be to prevent big companies from spending the marginal amounts required to honor the commitment they should have had to paying customers from the get-go. If games are "licensed, not owned", then maybe they should really be owned, shouldn't they?

Stop Killing Games stated that it'll soon publish a video with detailed information on the entire ordeal. In the meantime, the initiative states that "If you are an organization in the U.S., especially in California, please reach out to us or submit a letter of support directly to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations!"

The post

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

appeared first on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up