Stop Killing Games is a gamer-led initiative aimed at preventing games from becoming unplayable if they become commercially unviable in the publisher’s eyes. Most gamers approve, but it’s actually getting some serious pushback straight from the Entertainment Software Association of the US.
The Stop Killing Games initiative has prompted the state of California to consider a new law, AB 1921, known as the Protect Our Games Act. The law requires companies that would shut down the online services needed to play a game to give two months’ notice and either release a patch that allows players to continue playing the game (offline or on private servers) or offer a full refund.
Pretty simple stuff, which completely disproves the accusations that the Stop Killing Games initiative would force companies to keep their servers up forever. That’s not it. The objective is for customers to get the option to run the games themselves, should the companies decide they no longer want to do it in-house.
According to the recent declarations by Stop Killing Games, the ESA is lobbying hard against the bill, using the arguments that
- Games are licensed, not owned
- Online services are complicated
- Third-party licenses expire
- Security risks exist
- This could be hard or expensive to enforce
None of that is new or unaccounted for. Stop Killing Games explains that expired third-party licenses might affect future sales and/or new versions, but that doesn’t justify disabling the private use by people who’d already paid for the game. Security issues can also be handled with normal warnings, and the bill does not require the companies to reveal any exploits or sensitive technical aspects.
The initiative said, “AB 1921 is narrow. It applies to paid games going forward and gives companies options: preserve ordinary use, patch the game, or refund the purchaser.
The industry wants people to think this is a demand for eternal server support, with endless costs and complications.
It isn’t.
It’s much simpler:
If a company sells people a paid game, it should not be able to destroy the game’s ordinary use later without notice or remedy.”
ESA’s goal seems to be to prevent big companies from spending the marginal amounts required to honor the commitment they should have had to paying customers from the get-go. If games are “licensed, not owned”, then maybe they should really be owned, shouldn’t they?
Stop Killing Games stated that it’ll soon publish a video with detailed information on the entire ordeal. In the meantime, the initiative states that “If you are an organization in the U.S., especially in California, please reach out to us or submit a letter of support directly to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations!”
The post The video games industry wants to keep killing games, actually appeared first on Destructoid.
Forza Horizon 6 somehow leaked and was cracked wide open over the weekend, leading to some players gaining access to it well ahead of its launch day.
The game isn’t due to launch until May 19 (the Premium Edition gets access four days earlier), but many have somehow unlocked and begun playing the game as early as a few days ago. Gameplay videos have begun appearing on YouTube, Twitch, and other websites, and it’s gotten a bit out of hand, forcing the game’s devs to address it.
It seems that players accessing the game likely has something to do with an early access review build appearing as 155 GB of unencrypted downloadable files on SteamDB, and developer Playground Games says it is “not the result of a pre-load issue.” It’s possible that a content creator or reviewer with early access broke embargo and made it all possible.
“We are taking strict enforcement action against any individuals found accessing this build including franchise-wide and hardware bans,” Playground said. “We encourage fans to sit tight for the game’s release on May 19.”
The full game is now reportedly appearing on piracy sites, although some who have accessed it say they were able to do so simply by pre-ordering. The player who was first to crack the game says that its files were not encrypted, so it’s turned into a bit of a blame game.
No matter who or what is at fault, Playground says it may be banning people who play it early, and some have taken exception to that by claiming that it was a mistake on the studio’s end and that they should not be punished for playing the game early because of it.
But for those who pirated the game illegally once it leaked, there’s no real argument to be had, so think twice before booting up the game before it’s unlocked for real later this week or next, depending on which edition you buy.
The post Forza Horizon 6 devs threaten hardware bans for accessing game after early build somehow went public appeared first on Destructoid.
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