A petition has been launched with the aim of preventing video game companies from removing launched games and making them inaccessible.
"Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of GRTV News. Today we have quite an unusual one for you because we're talking a little bit about a petition.
We do that quite infrequently I would say actually, but today we're going to be doing it for the simple reason that there's a petition that is going round in the UK in particular that is looking to take the, let's say the battle for game preservation to UK Parliament."
"The idea is basically that there are people that are putting their names forward and saying that they want some sort of legal ban on place to stop companies from pulling games that have already been released.
We've seen that happen multiple times in the past and we will see it happen way more times in the future.
For one reason or another, but at the end of the day, when a consumer buys a product and then the person who offers the product decides to remove that product there's a question as to whether that should be allowed or whether it's morally grey, shall we say."
"But anyway, let's dive on in.
So yeah, a petition in the UK Parliament is calling for a legal ban on companies pulling the plug on games that have been released.
So, a new popular petition on the UK Government and Parliament website calls for legislation to preserve video games once publishers and game companies decide to abandon or pull the plug on them."
"The petition, which seeks 10,000 signatures, argues that while there are games that can run indefinitely, there are also games whose features and content, by design, can be switched off and remain inaccessible to the user who bought them if the publisher chooses to do so.
The brief argues that this is understood as a form of planned obsolescence and that players are deprived of goods for which they have paid without compensation.
So this category could include all those games as a service and multiplayer games with in-game shops that, once they lose popularity and close servers, do not allow offline play."
"So far, this initiative has only gained just over 350 signatures, but it seems like a way not only to protect consumer interest against companies and digital commerce, but also a way of preserving video games.
What do you think? You can follow the petition and even sign it at this link.
So I would say that, again, there are some games here that will never really be affected by this."
"You know, like your traditional sort of platformers and RPGs and stuff.
Maybe they have some online element.
Like, for example, if you take Astro Bot from last year, there will come a time where Team Asobi will shut down the online server element to it, right?
And you won't be able to see updated leaderboards on the speedruns and stuff like that."
"But the game itself will continue to run. It will continue to work.
On the other hand, another sort of more recent game, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, which, as of yesterday, sort of concluded its main narrative arc.
And seemingly it's going to be the end of it because it was a very, let's say, budget-constricted ending.
When that game goes down, and we're assuming it's probably closer than further away because of the fact that they're basically giving the game away in regards to PlayStation Plus and also the actual general cost of the game, which you can often pick it up for about £5 or £6."
"When that game goes down, it probably won't remain accessible because it's a game that has online live elements and it costs Rocksteady and Warner Brothers money to keep active.
So now you have to ask the question is that, should that be allowed?
That they can shut down a game and, despite the fact that people have bought it and spent money in it, especially for the, you know, even if you got it through PlayStation Plus or something, maybe like through microtransactions and cosmetics and stuff like that."
"If they're going to shut it down, there should be an element of preservation, i.e. there should be an offline mode that you can play regardless of what they do with the game.
There is offline elements in the game, but will it be accessible if they decide to fully close the game down and not make it any more available?
These are all the big questions. And again, Suicide Squad just wanted to point a finger out because obviously it came out in early 2024."
"But there have been loads of other games over the years that have been shut down, you know, titles like Space Bugs, for example.
I really enjoyed that game. It got canned. Vampire the Masquerade, Blood Hunt, another one. Battle Royale is doing semi well. Gone.
Lots of other BRs, actually. So, you know, there's an element of game preservation that people are looking for here to make them available going forward."
"But I also think there's a degree of respect that needs to be given to the consumer, really.
Obviously, when you buy games and you don't read the terms and conditions, because the majority of people don't, there will always be something in there, especially if it's a live game, saying that they have complete control of what they do in the game."
"Meaning when they shut it down, there's not really anything you can do as a consumer because you sign those terms and agreements.
But perhaps that won't be the way for the future. So it's an interesting thing.
Again, it's seeking about 10,000 signatures, this petition. As of right now, it's up to over 5,000.
So it's doing quite well. But I think really, you know, we see petitions like this all the time."
"And I think for it to really be of any value and to make any sort of noise in UK parlour, it won't need 10,000 signatures.
It will need like 250,000, maybe millions, maybe in the millions.
So we'll stay tuned and see how it does. And we'll keep you updated in regards to that.
Otherwise, that's all the time I have in today's episode of GRTV News. So stay tuned for that."
"And otherwise, I'll see you all on the next one. Take care, everyone."