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Also I should have given more prominent mention of this site which IMO is more worthy and actionable than Wingefors' private physical archive: https://delistedgames.com/ "Welcome to Delisted Games, a growing archive of 2,163 games you can't play" from game console libraries, Steam, etc. ("the town criers of video game disappearances... We research, catalog, and inform about today’s digital gaming landscape (hellscape) including store delistings, online service shutdowns and, simply put, cultural erasure"). (mentioned on HN previously in connection with the PS4 debacle [0]). I mean there's a legitimate discussion to be had about game lifecycles and between Steam, Kickstarter, games publishers, video game consoles, value resellers like GOG, HumbleBundle, about what are more transparent, ethical ways to publish(/unpublish) and monetize games throughout their lifecycle, to different constituencies of player: - early adopters/ alpha playtesters, who are happy with the tradeoff of a buggy and incomplete game they can play online with friends in return for a deep discount, early access, the ability to positively influence game devpt, maybe some swag or convention events - beta playtesters, who expect a reasonably complete and stable game, an active community, forums, developers who are reponsive, regular (monthly/quarterly) bug rollups and fixes, etc. - main-phase, who are happy to pay full price for a complete, bug-free game with tutorials, user guides, multilanguage online help, forums, etc., and have an expectation that they can quickly start an online multplayer/remote game with friends, strangers and AI. - owners who still expect a basic post-lifecycle ability to play a game solo or against AI or other existing owners (after the publisher has disappeared or the game site has taken down infrastructure servers, achievements, forums, etc.) Such as happened with 'Pandemic' and Asmodee. - to what extent should publishers be able to use exclusivity to lock in owners and extract revenues? what happens to digital rights after the monetizing is over? Can they retroactively convert a sale to a licensing (time-limited, region-locked, limited rights to play with friends and family...)? This is something where consumer law and regulators can limit bad behavior. As a positive example of how to do this profitably and ethically, Civilization (Sid Meier Games/ Firaxis Games). [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25134263 |