THE POINT AND HOW TO MISS IT

The point and how to miss it

Online games news Tedious Retro Gamer, 14-08-2024
Online Games Bay

In his second video regarding the "Stop killing games" initiative, indie developer Pirate Software again argues how bad the whole idea is and how it will destroy developers. And misses the point. Again.

The initiative called "Stop killing games" aims to stop the practice of game developers / publishers, who insist on making their games online only and then shut down the project whenever they want to. While the concept of keeping games fully functional forever is a bit naive, there are strong arguments that would put a pressure on the developers and publishers to work within the rules of the law. In the most outrageous examples, the companies shut down servers within a year from the game premiere, and we are not talking about free-to-play titles, but games you had to pay for (do you remember Babylon’s Fall?).

"But what if your game is a live service?"
Then, dear Pirate Software, you are screwed, and by your own choice may I add. The whole point is to stop the practice of making every single game a live service instead of a stand-alone product. Introduction of such regulations will (or rather should) make the game developers stop and think before they move into that swampy territory - if you plan to make a live service game, you need a long-term financial backing and you need a long-term strategy.

Let’s say that I bought a car from you, but it requires being constantly online to f.e. verify my ownership each time I start the engine. I have no problem with that, but if you tell me a year later (or even few years later) that it is too expensive to keep this verification system on, and you will be shutting the whole thing down, expect a question from me "why we needed that in a first place?" followed by some not so elegant words in a very loud voice. I bought a product, you forced this to be a service.

And the whole point of this initiative is to stop companies from making such stupid decisions or to force them to, when they are unable to provide this service, to make necessary adjustments, so my car would still be running even if your company ceased to exist.

"We plan a long-term support"
I can’t even remember how many companies, while promoting their upcoming titles, were assuring everyone that they "plan a long-term support" and hardly any of them kept their word. Not because they are just pathetic liars (well, maybe some of them are), but mostly because "we plan" does not equal "we can guarantee". The market changes, the financial situation of the company may change, there could be dozens of other reasons why they simply cannot keep their promise. But if they cannot keep their word about long-term support, why should they keep the money they took while they were making that promise?

To use the car example again, if you finish the support for your own product, that is fine. Well, maybe not perfect, but fine. But if you tell me that my car is now nothing but a huge and fancy collection of scrap metal, then we will have a problem.

"The licences have run out"
And this is my problem... how? I bought a game, it is up to the company that sold me that game to deal with their contracts, they have nothing to do with me. Sign better contracts that will cover that problem, or do not sign licences at all - there are plenty of games that do not use licensed products inside. If your selling point is that it will offer f.e. chance to drive a fancy Ferrari in your game and few years later you are gonna remove this car from your game, then I expect you to return the money you received.

Let’s, again, use the example of a car that I bought. Let’s say that a few years after the transaction, a man from the manufacturing company shows up at my doorstep and tells me that he will have to remove the gear lever from my car because they "agreed with the manufacturer of that the lever, it will be in the car for only 5 years". Have you mentioned it while we were making the deal? And even if so, my friend, you are about to be attacked using blunt objects. Repeatedly. Your deal with the lever manufacturer is your problem, I’m in no way a participant in that deal - I bought a product, and it will remain the way I bought it.

Missing the point, again
While I understand Pirate Software’s arguments, to some extent, that it will make the developer’s job much harder, but this is exactly the point of all of this! The gaming industry needs to reform and be regulated just like any other form of industry.

When you buy a can of food, you expect to find inside the food that was advertised on the label, right? And why is that? Because of the regulations which secure the rights of the consumer. If you buy a computer, you expect it to work or be replaced within the warranty period, right? And why? Because of the regulations that force manufacturers to take responsibility for their products for at least 2–3 years.

The gaming industry has virtually no regulations at all, companies are ripping off the clients in one way or another because there is no unified set of rules they would need to follow. You can sue them as an individual, but they will face no other consequences if they screw up their product or will never finish their product. That is the point, dear Pirate Software, the problems developers will face is just a bonus.

14-08-2024