Game Publishers Bothered by Successful Player Initiative Stop Destroying Videogames

The Video Games Europe association has expressed its disagreement with the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative. This is a civic initiative founded with the goal of compelling publishers to allow players to play purchased game titles even after official support ends.

Everything is online

Games in the nineties were distributed on floppy disks and still work today if you have compatible hardware or an emulator. Today, they are downloaded from the internet, and you must have an account with the production company to play the game. Often, a subscription is also required.

This makes sense because publishers take care of successful games, and that costs money. This includes bug fixes, new levels, or „just” server operation. These are necessary for playing online games. Furthermore, these practices lead to the minimization of piracy and cheating in games. Without logging into the server, you cannot play, and bypassing server security is practically impossible, unlike cracking an offline game.

Games get old

The problem is that at some point, operating servers for publishers stops being profitable. After years, people lose interest in the game, new licenses are not sold, and subscriptions don’t exist or don’t cover costs. Publishers then shut down the server, and players are out of luck.

The online world is unavailable after being shut down. Players lose their saved progress, including paid microtransactions for purchasing equipment. In some cases, the publisher releases a patch that keeps at least the offline part of the game functional, if it exists and makes sense. Rarely, the community manages to get an alternative server running.

Sometimes, however, it is not possible to operate even games that appear to be offline after support ends. This is because servers calculate part of the logic or contain data necessary for their launch. In such a case, creating a patch, whether legal or through reverse engineering, is very complicated.

Players fight for the survival of old games

Players have launched the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative with a petition that you can sign on the official online signature collection website. If the number of signatures exceeds 1 million and at the same time reaches the minimum number in at least 7 countries, the European Commission must respond to it. Currently, the number of signatures is well above the required minimum. However, you can still support the initiative and strengthen its backing.

Game association defends itself

Game companies defend themselves by stating that operating servers for games that are no longer economically viable is not possible. They also point out potential legal consequences of alternative servers. Official servers contain various protections, both against cheating in games and against inappropriate behavior. Alternative servers may not contain these, and then the question arises as to who would be responsible for any violation of laws.

Do you play old games?

Source: Video Games Europe, Stop Destroying Videogames