[hnlmorg]

Server shutdowns are a problem regardless of the platform.

There used to be a time when PC games allowed you to connect to random servers. These days Minecraft is the only one that still allows it. And even there, Microsoft go hard on the upselling of their Realms.

Some studios kill their servers after just a couple of years. Even for games that are online first.

[neilv]

Is this a place Sony could differentiate from other platforms?

Contractually require (and technologically support) that the servers are kept running for n years after the last sale, for example?

[someonebaggy]

This week a Microsoft representative told Congress that all Minecraft servers except the ones sponsored by Microsoft are illegal piracy.

[hnlmorg]

It was a trade association not Microsoft. And bullshit like this is the entire reason for trade associations existing.

Microsoft themselves support self-hosting Minecraft servers. As evidenced by the fact that the server software itself is provided as a free download from an official Minecraft (and thus Microsoft branded) site.