A campaign launched in response to video games going permanently offline after players have purchased them has failed to gain official backing by the European Commission.
The EU Will Not Mandate Companies to Keep Games Playable
The ‘Stop Killing Games’ and ‘Stop Destroying Games’ initiative was launched in response to games like Ubisoft’s The Crew becoming fully unplayable after the developer decided to pull the plug on support for the title.
Some consumers feel this is unfair to players who have paid for the title and that developers and publishers should be required to keep some version of titles playable, even if ongoing maintenance and new content are no longer profitable for the creators.
After two years of campaigning for government intervention, the campaign seems to have failed to gain official support in the EU. According to a report from Reuters, the European Commission said on Tuesday it cannot require video games to remain playable after they are withdrawn from sale, but will work with industry and consumer groups on a voluntary code of conduct for managing games’ “end of life”.
“The Commission considers that at this stage it cannot propose a legal obligation to keep video games playable after they stop being provided commercially. This is due, also, to existing intellectual property rights. Under EU copyright law, rights holders enjoy exclusive rights over their creations. In addition to copyright, other intellectual property rights may also be relevant as they may protect different visual and technological aspects of a video game.”
The decision from the Commission explained that copyright and other intellectual property rules prevent it from imposing an obligation to keep games playable. The consumer group that had been suing Ubisoft argued that the company had misled consumers about how long The Crew would remain available.
The Commission also went on to explain that it would work with consumer organizations and authorities to raise awareness of existing rights.
“Active enforcement of these existing consumer rights can also incentivize the providers to offer video games with longer lifespans and explore solutions for meeting consumer expectations.”
This ruling sets an interesting precedent, but it is still likely that there will be other similar attempts to bring company’s to court after similar game shutdowns in the future. This doesn’t seem like a problem that will be going away any time soon, so gamers are likely going to continue pushing for some type of better solution.
Be sure to check back soon for updates as this story continues to develop.
The post Stop Killing Games Fails in Europe After 2 Years of Campaigning appeared first on VICE.
