Video games have grown into an industry with billions of customers worth hundreds of billions of euros. During this time, a specific business practice in the industry has been slowly emerging that is not only an assault on basic consumer rights but is destroying the medium itself.
An increasing number of publishers are selling video games that are required to connect through the internet to the game publisher, or “phone home” to function. While this is not a problem in itself, when support ends for these types of games, very often publishers simply sever the connection necessary for the game to function, proceed to destroy all working copies of the game, and implement extensive measures to prevent the customer from repairing the game in any way.
This practice is effectively robbing customers of their purchases and makes restoration impossible. Besides being an affront on consumer rights, video games themselves are unique creative works. Like film, or music, one cannot be simply substituted with another. By destroying them, it represents a creative loss for everyone involved and erases history in ways not possible in other mediums.
Existing laws and consumer agencies are ill-prepared to protect customers against this practice. The ability for a company to destroy an item it has already sold to the customer long after the fact is not something that normally occurs in other industries. With license agreements required to simply run the game, many existing consumer protections are circumvented. This practice challenges the concept of ownership itself, where the customer is left with nothing after “buying” a game.
- European Citizens’ Initiative
https://www.stopkillinggames.com/faq
Giant FAQ on The European Initiative to Stop Destroying Games!
Europeans can save gaming!
https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxly_O-3JxyBULIT283l5A1KOhnNsWC3Bj
Remember, what’s the alternative?
Place to sign EU petition:
Just signed. It’s a welcomed initiative, but more important is to vote with your wallet. Support GOG and smaller developers.
I don’t agree with this practice of planned obsolescence, but aren’t cars already their own planned obsolescence? You have to keep giving it fuel, so in terms of the analogy, wouldn’t the company just stop selling fuel? You still have the parts, they just no longer function
Yes I’m aware that car manufacturers don’t sell the fuel, which causes a problem with my analogy, but I can’t see a perfect analogy for this case.
The point in your example, as you recognized, is that fuel is sold by multiple other companies.
For videogames it would be great if you could just use it with their servers of somebody else, that would actually solve a lot of problems.
Until the petition might pass (which it probably won’t):
Just don’t buy those games. Buy offline games or on gog or just pir8 them. Couldn’t think of one game that’s really great but has planned obsolescence. Except multiplayer-games of course.
We’re still less than 50% there with the signatures on the EU petition and there’s only 1 month left! Please sign and share with your EU friends 🙏
Actually there’s more than 2 months left.
Oops, I read it June instead of July. Still, 2 months will be tough!
