It’s easier to make small saves for games like The Pedestrian, because essentially all you have to track is which puzzles you’ve solved.
Whereas in an RPG with a persistent world like Cyberpunk or Skyrim, you have to save the state of every single object and mechanic the player has interacted with during their run, and there are usually a whole lot of those.
I’m currently at work, so disclaimer: the following is an AI-generated summary.
The UK government has responded to the petition to stop game publishers from destroying players’ access to purchased games, but the response is complex and not entirely straightforward.
The government’s response suggests there may be some legal avenues to pursue, particularly around the requirement for clear information to be provided to consumers about the longevity of online games.
The key issue seems to be that most online games do not clearly disclose when their service will be shut down, depriving consumers of information needed to make an informed purchase decision.
Pursuing this angle through consumer protection regulations like the CPRs may be more promising than directly trying to prevent game shutdowns, which the government response suggests is not clearly prohibited.
However, there are many open questions about the specifics of how to report and pursue potential violations, including around time limits, penalties, and differences between UK and Scottish law.
The creator of the video acknowledges this is a complex legal maze, but believes there is potential to do “a lot of damage” to the industry if the right approach can be identified.
Gathering more signatures on the UK petition may help, but the creator is skeptical this alone will lead to legislative change.
Overall, the response provides some promising leads, but significant work is still needed to determine the best path forward and how to effectively leverage the apparent legal violations.
The creator expresses frustration at having to essentially act as “self-checkout law enforcement” to get the government to enforce existing consumer protection laws.
Despite the challenges, the creator remains determined to find a way to hold game publishers accountable and prevent the destruction of purchased games.
I didn’t say they deserve no protection at all. You are twisting my words because my opinion doesn’t align with yours.
I advocate for games having a clear indicator for any online dependencies. I do not advocate for outlawing said dependencies or mandating “offline patches”.
If you are clearly told that you’re buying an ephemeral product and you are still surprised when it shuts down, then I don’t know what to tell you.
This basically boils down to “read the terms & conditions”, which isn’t unreasonable.
If a game states in its terms that access may be revoked at any time and you buy the game, then you have no reason to be surprised when access is eventually revoked.
Obviously when terms aren’t clear enough or intentionally obfuscated, that’s indeed an issue for legislation to act upon.
Then just pretend it doesn’t exist. I don’t understand how this affects the GOG userbase. All that happens is people speculate about how GOG is out to kill DRM-freedom.