The Save Game Campaign – help stop publishers from killing video games!

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

The short version:
Video game ownership is under threat from publishers and there’s a big campaign to push back against this.  Check out this simple, accessible website to see how you can help: https://www.stopkillinggames.com/

The slightly longer version for people with short attention spans:

The much longer version for people who have the time to watch a video explaining the finer details:

There’s more videos I could post explaining why this is a major unaddressed issue in the industry and how most people are either unaware of the sheer scale of the problem or try to downplay it, or else say there’s no realistic option to fix it, but this should be enough to digest just for starters.  Besides which, does it really need spelling out if games with singleplayer campaigns are fair game?
The shortest version:
Sodding Ubisoft.

[Flap Jack]

JUSTICE FOR GEEK CHASE

[Dave]

[Moonlight]

This is why I never play anything that isn’t on SEGA hardware.

[Ben Saunders]

oh hey it’s the Freeman’s Mind guy

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

oh hey it’s the Freeman’s Mind guy

Oh hey someone who knows what that is at last!

[Hamish]

oh hey it’s the Freeman’s Mind guy

Oh hey someone who knows what that is at last!

I’ll do one better and say I follow the Game Dungeon.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

I’ll do one better and say I follow the Game Dungeon.

Bravo Hamish! Good going!

[Hamish]

As for the campaign itself, I can not sign the petition as the Canadian one has not been approved as of yet. I also can not pester Ubisoft directly as I do not own any of their games. I refuse to buy any games encumbered with DRM or support any platforms that promote it, which yes even includes Steam.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

The UK campaign has also not been approved yet. You’d think that three months would be enough notice?

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

The UK petition is now live: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659071

Haven’t heard any word on the Canadian petition yet though.

[Flap Jack]

Cool. 1200 signatures isn’t bad for less than a day. Whether it can get to 100K in 6 months is another matter, but we’ll just have to see.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

I saw it shoot up from 500 to 1,000 in less than an hour. That’s not bad going.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

The UK petition just hit 10k signatures. Let’s see if we can make it all the way to 100k and get a shot at a parliamentary debate. We’ve got 5 months to do it in.

[Flap Jack]

As it happens they just announced that LittleBigPlanet 3’s PS4 servers will remain offline indefinitely after they were put into “maintenance” in January. So that’s over 10 million player created levels just gone forever. Thanks Sony!

[GlenTokyo]

As it happens they just announced that LittleBigPlanet 3’s PS4 servers will remain offline indefinitely after they were put into “maintenance” in January. So that’s over 10 million player created levels just gone forever. Thanks Sony!

They must have used the same people as TOS. 

[Jonathan Capps]

Dark Souls had a similar problem because of ddos attacks, didn’t it? I’m sure the problem is solvable but likely very expensive, which will always end with it being fucked off.

[Hamish]

O Canada, we take our fucking time…

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

The Australian petition is now live: https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN6080

And now, a few words from Ross on how it’s slightly bungled:

The bad news is the wording got screwed up so now it applies to ALL software, which is a problem, that’s too big a scope.  We think we can still salvage it though, since a MP or Senator will still need to pick it up and can narrow it back down to just videogames then.  On that note, if you know of any MPs or Senators, or other influential figures in politics who would be willing to take up this issue with enough signatures, by all means reach out to them!
My apologies about this fumble, I really tried to have this this targeted more carefully, but we can still work with this.
On the upside, we’re in touch with an Australian law firm and now have an excellent chance of getting the ACCC’s attention on this issue, so there’s still hope!

[Dave]

My apologies about this fumble, I really tried to have this this targeted more carefully, but we can still work with this.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Response in the comments:

Australian here:

Given our governments particular idiosyncrasies, it’s possible this was done to avoid relitigation later down the line. In turn, this could allow a set precedent to go after other companies, such as Adobe etc to get them to also stop cutting people off software. That’s my theory as it may be, because down here we tend to be overly broad by default, which has its benefits as well as downsides.

It’s still worth signing regardless, but don’t get downhearted. Because the over broad nature does mean it will create a nuanced discussion if the petition is accepted for debate, which does stand to benefit more than just people that play games.

Edit: Ross, you need to understand that narrowing the focus isn’t going to be as successful down here as you think. It doesn’t work that way, because our consumer laws are for the most part designed to protect the most citizens as possible. Restricting this to “just videogames” will have a deleterious effect rather than the one you’re hoping. Making this broader is a road to a better outcome.

[Author]

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