UK government responds to Stop Killing Games campaign

Yeah it’s really shitty for a game to become unplayable because the publisher closes down the servers. This is the endpoint of “live service” video games though, they want to do this because they control the access to the game and can push people on to the next iteration even if it’s extremely similar by simply removing the older version. Wouldn’t be surprised to see many iterative franchise games using this strategy to move players on to the next product.

Definitely needs to be changed. A regulation that requires a product to be available in perpetuity once purchased shouldn’t be difficult.

It’ll never happen but I’d like to see a copyright exemption on abandonware that cannot be purchased or used any more.

Companies would be much less likely to just drop a product if they knew that modders would be allowed to keep the game running and openly distribute a patched version.

Same for unlisted movies or TV that fall out of distribution over time.