The Stop Killing Games campaign, created by Ross Scott to protest the termination of games by publishers, making them unplayable to those who paid fully for them, has turned into a movement that has now garnered over 1 million signatures. Video Games Europe replied to the campaign last weekend.
“We appreciate the passion of our community; however, the decision to discontinue online services is multi-faceted, never taken lightly and must be an option for companies when an online experience is no longer commercially viable,” said Video Games Europe in the official statement.
“We understand that it can be disappointing for players but, when it does happen, the industry ensures that players are given fair notice of the prospective changes in compliance with local consumer protection laws.”
However, the group faulted the petition, saying, “many titles are designed from the ground-up to be online-only; in effect, these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create”.
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One of the suggestions for ensuring online games remain playable even after the developer or publisher has pulled the plug is to make the games accessible through private servers. Video Games Europe faulted the idea, too.
“Private servers are not always a viable alternative option for players as the protections we put in place to secure players’ data, remove illegal content, and combat unsafe community content would not exist and would leave rights holders liable.”
However, Video Games Europe said it welcomes the opportunity to discuss its “position with policy makers and those who have led the European Citizens Initiative in the coming months”.
Scott argues that the decision to pull the plug on games is also making it difficult for bodies working on video game conservation. This view has been echoed previously by the Video Game Foundation.
What would you suggest is the best way to solve this impasse between those advocating for video game preservation and those concerned about the negative effects that will come with removing the checks? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
