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Stop Killing Games

(www.stopkillinggames.com)
253 points MYEUHD | 1 comments | 02 Jul 25 16:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.211s | source
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butlike ◴[02 Jul 25 17:07 UTC] No.44446179[source]▶
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Add an expiration date on the "box" (I dunno what you call it in modern times):

"Online-only: This game will be playable until 2028-06-30"

This forces the publisher to put their money where their mouth is. If the game is successful, like WoW, by all means extend the time it's playable for. If it 'flops', you're on the hook to support it for 3 years, since you shouldn't be putting out made-to-fail slop.

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1. DrSiemer ◴[02 Jul 25 18:51 UTC] No.44447430[source]▶
An expiration date could be hard to estimate, but a minimum level of support based on sales might be worth thinking about.

As I understand it, that's not the main focus of this initiative though. It's mostly about opening up dead games for stuff like private servers, so we are not forced to lose access to all the art within when the developer pulls the plug.

It seems like a relatively small ask to at least _allow_ hardcore fans to keep something alive. I can imagine publishers that have a great connection with their community (like Coffeestain) actually benefitting from handling stuff like this in a decent way.