Supporters Rally to Prevent Distribution of Video Games in Shops
Increasingly, video games are being treated like commodities and marketed, but they become unplayable once technical assistance ceases, as per a petition. This has been a common issue with exclusively online games for quite some time now. Games like "Star Wars Galaxies" and "Warhammer Online" became obsolete after the companies discontinued their respective servers.
The move by French company Ubisoft to shut down the widely-adored racing game "The Crew" sparked frustration among fans. The game, which racked up around 12 million users within a few years of its 2014 release and featured an offline single-player mode, no longer launches post-server shutdown on April 1st.
Daniel Ondruska, spokesperson for the campaign, commented to news agency AFP, "We're not asking manufacturers to keep their games forever. However, gamers want these games to not be 'deliberately destroyed.' Those who paid for them should be given the option to play or set up their own servers."
The Video Games Europe association considers this demand impractical, not only due to the financial burden on the companies. Personal data protection is lacking in private servers, as opposed to official manufacturer game servers, leaving players vulnerable to hacker attacks. Furthermore, there's no one responsible for removing "unlawful content and combating hazardous content," the association stated.
Ubisoft did not respond to AFP's request for comment. The founders of "Stop Killing Video Games" are seeking backing from Brussels: if their petition gathers more than one million signatures by July 31st, 2023, EU lawmakers will need to address this issue.
The petition urging companies to reconsider discontinuing online games, led by "Stop Killing Video Games," suggests that they shouldn't intentionally render games like "The Crew" unplayable after server shutdown. Newly introduced regulations might necessitate game developers to provide continuity options for games purchased by players.
