‘Digital ownership must be respected’: UK parliament debates Stop Killing Games campaign, but government doesn’t budge | VGC
www.videogameschronicle.com
Politicians debate recent examples of games being “destroyed”…

Handing online servers over to consumers could carry commercial or legal risks, she said, in addition to safety concerns due to the removal of official company moderation.

  • notarobot@lemmy.zipEnglish
    319·
    15 hours ago

    I think everybody agrees that “digital ownership must be respected”. But if you check, you don’t own the games. You own licences. You may keep the licence after servers shut down. It is total BS, but we allowed it.

    I have to agree that killing online only games makes sense because they can’t be forced to run the server forever, not they can be forced to release the source code. But offline / solo / bots should keep working.

    • Goodeye8@piefed.socialEnglish
      231·
      14 hours ago

      This has already been addressed by SKG. Nobody is demanding the source code. Developers have multiple ways to solve this and SKG deliberately leaves that part open so developers could choose whatever works best for them.

      Whoever told you developers would have to release the source code is lying and is against the initiative.

      • notarobot@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        Seems to be a misunderstanding. We are in agreement. I mentioned it because it seems that was something that was debated. Not because I’m against the initiative

        She continued: “At the same time, the Government also recognises the concerns from the video gaming industry about some of the campaign’s asks. Online video games are often dynamic, interactive services—not static products—and maintaining online services requires substantial investment over years or even decades.”

        • Goodeye8@piefed.socialEnglish
          2·
          2 hours ago

          I have to agree that killing online only games makes sense because they can’t be forced to run the server forever, not they can be forced to release the source code. But offline / solo / bots should keep working.

          We are not in agreement. It doesn’t make sense even for online games.

          The politicians statement is not what SKG is about. SKG is not trying to preserve every version of a game. It would be cool if that was also on the table, but that’s not the purpose of the initiative. SKG is concerned with keeping the game playable AFTER the publisher/developer has decided it’s not longer worth maintaining. At that point the online video game is no longer a dynamic service because it’s no longer updated nor maintained. And that means it absolutely could be viewed as a static product. The point she is making is completely irrelevant to the initiative and shouldn’t even be a point of discussion.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        7·
        13 hours ago

        Here are a few options, this isn’t exhaustive:

        • release source code
        • release server binaries, like Minecraft and others do
        • release server API docs and help the community build their own
        • disable the online bits
        • move the online bits to P2P to not need a server
        • embed the server in the client to allow people to host

        There are lots of options here.

    • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.orgEnglish
      16·
      14 hours ago

      Ah, here we go again with the shit takes by people who have not read what Stop Killing Games is about. Classic. And here I thought we cut through the bullshit pushes by that PirateSoftware guy.

      • notarobot@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        Seems to be a misunderstanding. We are in agreement. I mentioned it because it seems that was something that was debated. Not because I’m against the initiative

        She continued: “At the same time, the Government also recognises the concerns from the video gaming industry about some of the campaign’s asks. Online video games are often dynamic, interactive services—not static products—and maintaining online services requires substantial investment over years or even decades.”