Stop Destroying Videogames

I once had a tangle online with a dev and a certain gaming marketplace. I am not going into the arguments, but I got carpet bombed. Since them, my hot take has won multiple times, and it is happening again.

DELISTING: The Outer Worlds & Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

Download the best games on Windows & Mac. A vast selection of titles, DRM-free, with free goodies, and lots of pure customer love.
www.gog.com www.gog.com

UPDATE: Unfortunately I confirmed that The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition will also be delisted at that date

Hey folks, I need to bring some unfortunate news:

Both The Outer Worlds (https://www.gog.com/game/the_outer_worlds) and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey (https://www.gog.com/game/ancestors_the_humankind_odyssey) will be removed from the store on December 15th (I don't have an exact hour yet). We've secured a discount for Ancestors, but couldn't do so for The Outer Worlds. This also includes all editions & add-ons for both games.

As always, we'll try to bring them back.
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Now sure, it is only being delisted, and... GOG haven't said anything about its availability. Steam is the only store, historically, to have kept a listing repository alive. They do so because they have strong distribution policies.

I do like GOG, but they shouldn't intoxicate their policies with good guy marketing. The delisting date is currently unknown, as is whether the game will stay in a user's library. In the interim, you bought the game, do download the game's GOG installer (and updates) and store it somewhere.

All in all, this is another bad event come to game preservation. Why it is being delisted on GOG, only the parties will know. Us plebs don't get to read their agreements.
 

ESA bafflingly declares private Minecraft servers 'illegal' in Stop Killing Games hearing: 'We consider it piracy, we have lawsuits'​


Catch me on the corner selling server.jar out of a long trenchcoat.

In a remarkably strange statement at a recent California State Senate hearing over the Protect Our Games Act (AB 1921, California's Stop Killing Games-endorsed bill to compel publishers to provide ways to keep playing discontinued games), a representative of the Entertainment Software Association declared private servers for the likes of Minecraft and Call of Duty "illegal," adding that, so far as the ESA is concerned, "we consider it piracy."

The representative in question was Jennifer Gibbons, the ESA's vice president for state government affairs, and just to clear this up right away: what she said was nonsense. You can, literally right now, head over to the official Minecraft website and download a .jar file to let you run your own private server.

Gibbons was responding to a comment made by California state assemblymember Chris Ward—who introduced the bill—regarding the possibility of keeping games alive with private servers. "Minecraft is currently hosted by community servers, Call of Duty [has] community servers, so it's an option that is out there, in existence here today."

Gibbons cut in: "They're illegal. They are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft. Microsoft, for Minecraft, has gotten a lot of criticism because of those community servers not employing the same safety standards that Microsoft does on their Minecraft servers."
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7FqE.gif
 
The gaming industry has lost their marbles. I am speaking specifically of the bad players, who are now acting in bad faith to protect their bottom line. This kind of lobbying is unheard of. For the ESA to have gone on record with that statement is a mockery of what videogames are. I don't even want to know what fuelled that...

I get it that the industry wants to be protective of their IP, but them pushing back against the longevity, usuability and accessibility of games is madness. They are actively attempting to sabotage community efforts to ensure perpetuity.

Not a single consumer of gaming media (and content) should accept this, ever.
 
As much as I support Ross Scott and some minor Stop Killing Games movements. I hesitate to put my weight behind the collective movement simply because they are building clout on community sentiment. That would involve things that aren't the goalposts. When things go awry, they issue statements.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopKillingGames/comments/1vs90o0/a_statement_on_the_current_gta_6_footage_leak

A statement on the current GTA 6 Footage leak situation​


Footage from GTA 6 has leaked, and a group of hackers, whom we will deliberately not name here, to avoid giving them further attention, claims responsibility. The footage itself appears to be genuine: Take-Two has already been hitting it with DMCA takedowns, and the speed of those strikes is itself a strong signal of authenticity. The group is using the leak to promote a meme coin, attaching crypto links and QR codes to the footage and asking people to pay for more.

Do not send these people your money, no matter how much sympathy you may feel for their actions. This is illegal, and frankly, we feel for everyone at Rockstar having to go through this ordeal again, especially just over a week before Rockstar’s own official “Extended Look” premieres.

Using illegal means to make a point is unacceptable to us and does nothing to protect our right to keep using what we paid for. No matter how strongly you disagree with the decisions of upper management at these companies, there are still thousands of developers who worked hard on this project, and they’re the ones being hit the hardest.

Channel that frustration into something constructive instead. This kind of act is destructive and helps no one, worse, it risks tarnishing the reputation of our communities and our chances to make change. History isn’t on the leaker’s side either: the last person who did this to Rockstar, back in 2022, ended up with an indefinite hospital order. This isn’t a cause worth risking your money or your future on. (We seriously doubt that the hack was seriously for that reason)

We are expecting for this to go on, and it is already being mentioned in our discussions with lawmakers, negatively. Do not participate or engage with these kinds of actions.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2089902797940576432

Transparency notice: For anyone wondering on the two taken down posts, we are multiple people managing this account (was said we would not name the hacker; we’ll guess what the other part of the social media team did not know).
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Sounds more like anarchy. Even when your social media is outsourced, you vet your messaging. They have been here, but this one is going to haunt them.

This is why I don’t partake in large movements like this.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
As much as I support Ross Scott and some minor Stop Killing Games movements. I hesitate to put my weight behind the collective movement simply because they are building clout on community sentiment. That would involve things that aren't the goalposts. When things go awry, they issue statements.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopKillingGames/comments/1vs90o0/a_statement_on_the_current_gta_6_footage_leak



https://twitter.com/x/status/2089902797940576432



Sounds more like anarchy. Even when your social media is outsourced, you vet your messaging. They have been here, but this one is going to haunt them.

This is why I don’t partake in large movements like this.
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Had his 15mins of fame and now he'll just latch onto any current news thing for attention.

Many such cases.
 
prod said:
Had his 15mins of fame and now he'll just latch onto any current news thing for attention.

Many such cases.
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Ross Scott is doing okay. Though he is a SKG representative and started the "Stop Killing Games" movement, I don't think that he is serving on its board at all. The whole movement came later. SKG also has two legs, one in the EU and the other in the US, and I think only a single person is running the show in the US. Not sure. I stopped monitoring their proceedings the day they lost sight. I don't know what ball they are playing. It was always about digital rights, and now it is anything their supporters disagree with.

Far too many thought leaders with political views are riding on their name. They are being tagged in almost all gaming-related messaging. SKG is being derailed, and their own insiders are dragging them down. These people aren’t there to promote SKG; they are there to promote themselves, tarnishing a good cause.

SKG, its leaders, need to gather themselves and set their sights right. They also need to know with whom to engage, and when. There is nothing corporates love more than anti-corporate lobbies drowning themselves.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
This is why I don’t partake in large movements like this.
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I only signed the petitions.

So maybe I partook but I hope they totally f-Sony up.

My ideal scenario is a lawsuit in every developed country once Sony loses to the Dutch.

Sony execs need to make less money to spend on papakatsu.
 
Mirai said:
I only signed the petitions.

So maybe I partook but I hope they totally f-Sony up.

My ideal scenario is a lawsuit in every developed country once Sony loses to the Dutch.

Sony execs need to make less money to spend on papakatsu.
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I had a look at the "Sony Tax," though it is still largely a legal theory. It is going to take a long time to be proven. Regardless, it is good that potential anti-competitive practices are tested in the courts.

It will be hard to establish Sony as the dominant player, and Xbox, the other day, said that consoles aren't that big in Europe, though they might have talked about their own console. Not sure; I would need to go look that up again.

In principle, this Dutch movement targets Sony's closed ecosystem, which allegedly prevents competition. I will tell you now who is loving this, Epic. Sony loses; Epic is taking aim at Valve in Europe.

I do wish that competition improves, but I can't tell nor value the merits here. Even the claim is at this point still unproven. What I do know is that it will ripple. For better or worse.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
I had a look at the "Sony Tax," though it is still largely a legal theory. It is going to take a long time to be proven. Regardless, it is good that potential anti-competitive practices are tested in the courts.
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Yes it's a theory as all lawsuits are.

Fulcrum29 said:
It will be hard to establish Sony as the dominant player, and Xbox, the other day, said that consoles aren't that big in Europe, though they might have talked about their own console. Not sure; I would need to go look that up again.
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It's quite obvious that Sony is the ONLY player and the only way to buy video games on Playstation consoles. It has eliminated competition and is free to set any price it wants.

fortune.com

‘Sony essentially destroys its own defense’: How its disc-free PS5 plan triggered a $457M lawsuit and undercut its antitrust defense | Fortune

Sony’s move enraged thousands of gamers and brought on a lawsuit with the backdrop of rival Xbox’s restructuring amid video game industry challenges.
fortune.com fortune.com

Alternative link: https://www.printfriendly.com/print...ony-playstation-discs-lawsuit-xbox-antitrust/

Fulcrum29 said:
In principle, this Dutch movement targets Sony's closed ecosystem, which allegedly prevents competition. I will tell you now who is loving this, Epic. Sony loses; Epic is taking aim at Valve in Europe.
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That is perfectly fine. I have no problem with competition as long as it's fair.

Fulcrum29 said:
I do wish that competition improves, but I can't tell nor value the merits here. Even the claim is at this point still unproven. What I do know is that it will ripple. For better or worse.
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I don't see any negatives here and Sony has to be reigned in.
 
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