Introduction: In the last 12 months, the initiative known as Stop Killing Games, or SKG for short, has managed to constantly increase attention around it. The same process began in 2024 as a decentralized campaign to stop video game developers and gaming publishers from pulling support from online games, which are basically terminated once that happens. While a racing game called The Crew started the campaigns, the roots of the problem reach a lot deeper than simple server support for multiplayer or online-only games. Instead, the core issues relate to the concept of digital product ownership and how the same process evolves through time. While the issue is incredibly complicated, the backlash to games shutting down did provide several possible avenues from which different but workable solutions might form in the time to come.
Article: When Ubisoft decided to pull support from its 2014 racing games called The Crew, chances are that no one in the company knew what this decision would snowball into. The same took place in late 2023, when the company released its decision to delist the decade-old game and its expansions from all online stores. It then stopped all microtransactions and eventually, in March 2024, shut down its servers. Even though The Crew is mainly a single-player title, its owners soon found out that the game was no longer playable. Instead, if anyone tried to play it, the game’s launcher would simply load an error screen. In essence, from that point on, The Crew no longer existed as a digital product, even for its existing owner. This process quickly came to the attention of gaming content creators, many of whom had huge audiences.
From there, the shutdown of The Crew and the outrage around it slowly morphed into a full movement. This movement became what is now known as Stop Killing Games, sometimes shortened to SKG. It, along with the individual campaigns that came out of it, demanded that games-as-a-service, or titles that require access to a server infrastructure as a necessity, keep a level of functionality for their owners. The questions and the dilemmas that this process triggered now spilled over into legislative debates, technical problems, and even deep questions related to the very nature of digital possessions and the rights that guard them. But, the conversations around Stop Killing Games also produced some direct solutions that the game development industry could apply in the near future to avoid the controversy and legal problems that stem from video games shutting down and disappearing.
Legislative Pressure
The campaigns that grew around the Stop Killing Games have been making some social and political waves. In the EU, the same campaigns reached one million signatures and saw a Romanian politician who is also a member of the European Parliament give it full public backing. In this regard, the campaigners have an approach that combines two separate elements. The first one is purely legal and relates to the way game publishers and gaming stores label their products. Here, the SKG campaign aims to force all sellers to declare that players are buying a license, but not an actual product. This means that buyers should be aware that their access could be cut at the decision of the actual product owner, who are the game makers and publishers. Recently, online sellers like Steam have already folded under the same pressure in places like California. However, the second element of the campaign – making sure that the games are forever playable – is more challenging. Even in that regard, there are two separate solutions on the horizon.
Private Server Infrastructure
Many gamers believe that companies that produce online titles could be legally required to keep their servers up and running. This stands almost no chance of actually taking place – even a modest server architecture that is running 24/7 is very expensive for any business. Making sure all online games are always operational, regardless of their market success, is a borderline fantasy. But what is possible is for the game developers to allow for the creation of private servers. Older games regularly saw such features that allowed individual gamers to set up and run their server hubs, ensuring that the game was accessible to those who could reach this particular private network. This would also ask that game developers allow for the off-server functionality, which is something that The Crew did not have. Even though it sounds logical, the same solution would be very in-depth because it would demand that the game’s launcher and core functionality are not dependent on server access. That would be a costly undertaking, but one that is a lot more feasible than the never-ending official servers.
Offline Modes
A simpler solution for games than the private server structure would be to supplement the games with offline modes. With that, players would be able to enjoy at least some aspect of the game, no matter what the status of the official service. Many gamers fear that this kind of requirement would push game developers to create extremely reduced offline modes, which would be more akin to an early prototype or the game’s demo than the actual server-enabled full version. Furthermore, different genres would have to answer this need to have online modes differently. A racing game could relatively easily have several tracks where the players could try to make the best time. But an MMORPG would be a nightmare for developers who would try to turn it into a stand-alone game. This goes for many other genres, no matter how straightforward or complicated the original game might seem from the outside.
Permanently Online
Stop Killing Games will produce some positive results for the consumers. In the near future, gamers will likely get warnings about the nature of the product they are buying, or better said, licensing. But the workable technical solutions will take a lot more time and effort. One thing is certain – the age of gaming discs and cartridges is long gone. Never again will players be able to collect new physical games that would be playable as long as they have the right hardware. Modern games need and often require online aspects and a continued online connection. The SKG initiatives do shine a light on that process of change in the video game industry, but they stand no chance of turning the clock back. Because of this, the incoming solutions, whether they include offline modes, private server infrastructure, or something else, will still never bring back the video game cabinet where dozens of games stand in their physical packaging, ready to be enjoyed at a moment’s notice.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia