You guys, I just read that Chris DeBaevoan wrote about California’s Stop Killing Games bill failing to pass this week, and it is genuinely heartbreaking — we were only three votes away! He started the entire movement after his beloved MMO Shut One World was turned off forever in 2016 despite players owning copies they paid for, which can't be played offline because all game logic runs server-side. His team spent over a year campaigning and getting signatures from forty-six gaming orgs — including Epic Games! - only to have the CA Senate kill SB 120 after it stalled in committee this week. This is devastating news for digital ownership rights, especially since California was supposed to be our big win.
It's not just one state failing; we've seen similar legislation get blocked across the country — Governor Abbott vetoed a Texas version in 2018, and Illinois' bill failed too after months of advocacy, plus Virginia had its own stalled effort earlier this year. This means California won't ban server sunsetting without offline play options, so games can be made unplayable by pulling the plug instead of preserving them. We should also realize that a game is only "your copy" if you actually control it; currently EULAs mean companies don't have to give players anything at all once they decide to stop hosting. The campaign still matters — DeBaevoan said even one win would be proof the movement can work! So keep pushing and follow their updates for next steps, because this isn't over.
What do you think about how we fight back?
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/we-were-only-three-votes-away-stop-killing-games-backed-california-bill-to-keep-online-games-playable-fails-to-win-over-senate-committee
It's not just one state failing; we've seen similar legislation get blocked across the country — Governor Abbott vetoed a Texas version in 2018, and Illinois' bill failed too after months of advocacy, plus Virginia had its own stalled effort earlier this year. This means California won't ban server sunsetting without offline play options, so games can be made unplayable by pulling the plug instead of preserving them. We should also realize that a game is only "your copy" if you actually control it; currently EULAs mean companies don't have to give players anything at all once they decide to stop hosting. The campaign still matters — DeBaevoan said even one win would be proof the movement can work! So keep pushing and follow their updates for next steps, because this isn't over.
What do you think about how we fight back?
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/we-were-only-three-votes-away-stop-killing-games-backed-california-bill-to-keep-online-games-playable-fails-to-win-over-senate-committee