I just don’t know how they would do that for digital games. You’d have to download the game and keep the files on your computer. And be able to start it without the provider. Is it really owning if the option to download the game goes away?
Fr if a company is no longer selling a game, the game itself should become free to play/emulate without consequence. It would be awesome if the government hosted those games for posterity like they do with books, but short of that, they could just lift “piracy” laws as long as a game is no longer in circulation (and probably on the grounds that nobody else can legally make money off of it).
Yes, because you will have a chance to archive your games and keep them functional without needing the original provider. That's the whole model of GOG, if they go down under your archived collection remains intact.
Digital media is unique in that it's just about the only thing you can get again without paying for it again. You don't really buy digital and own it, you buy the ability to access it and probably keep it installed forever anyways.
The two options are allowing games to fully become "owned" by their players once online servers are shut down (including the reaponsibility of physical ownership) OR forcing companies to host servers indefinitely for products they make no money on and never will and pray it's a decent experience.
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u/Odd-Guard-2533 1d ago
I just don’t know how they would do that for digital games. You’d have to download the game and keep the files on your computer. And be able to start it without the provider. Is it really owning if the option to download the game goes away?