"Games as a service" is fraud.
Why Hacker News recommends it
It is the go-to explanation of why games that die when servers shut down harm consumers, and it is repeatedly cited in Stop Killing Games and game-delisting threads.
What it is
Ross Scott of Accursed Farms makes a 76-minute argument that selling video games as a service is a form of consumer fraud. He lays out legal arguments that games are goods, covers ownership and programmed obsolescence, and discusses game preservation.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2019 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec flafla2 · 2019-12 · on “Discontinued Microsoft Products”
See "Games as a service is fraud": [this video] If you have an hour, I'd highly recommend giving this a watch. It is really sad to see any form of media die forever at the whim of a corporation. Games are especially prone to this unfortunately
Recommends flafla2 · 2020-03 · on “Internet Archive responds: Why we released the National Emergency Library”
The problem is that for game ROMs specifically, opening them to the public domain devalues potential opportunities for re-releases and remasters. The Nintendo virtual console service and S/NES classic are prominent examples. So it isn't so simple that there is "no harm done" by forcing game ROMs to fall into public domain. That all being said, I still agree with you. I really don't care how much money Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony wants to make on decades-old games, at a certain point it becomes a cultural artifact. Snow White and other century-old movie properties should be public domain nowadays as well. At this point we're debating about the core values of trademark law though, and I'm not
Recommends DrSiemer · 2021-06 · on “Many Need for Speed Games Are Abiut to Be Erased by EA”
Ross from Accursed Farms has some great videos * about exactly this phenomenon and why it is so detrimental to gaming culture in general. * [this video]
Recommends rasz · 2021-06 · on “Many Need for Speed Games Are Abiut to Be Erased by EA”
Ross Scott covers it quite well in his "Games as a service" is fraud video [this video] and others in 'dead game news' series.
Recommends gravypod · 2021-12 · on “Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity”
Some more great information in this same space: [LINK] A less legally sound argument for why games as a service shouldn't be allowed: [this video] Ross is very odd but his opinions on this topic align greatly with my personal sentiment.
Recommends beretguy · 2024-08 · on “Stop Destroying Videogames – European Citizens' Initiative”
Just watch this video so that you get up to speed with what we are talking about [this video] Alternative YouTube link: [this video]
Recommends beretguy · 2024-08 · on “Stop Destroying Videogames – European Citizens' Initiative”
You don’t know what you are talking about and you are wasting everyone’s time. Watch this video to understand what we are talking about here: [this video]
Cites andrecarini · 2019-12 · on “Tron: Evolution – SecuROM DRM expiration makes game unplayable 9 years later”
Regardless of the EULA, there are legal arguments [1] to be made that Steam's games are goods, not services, and buyers whose games are remotely disabled due to auth servers being shut off should be entitled to either a refund, a reasonable patch to keep the game working locally or have a clear expiration date stamped on the storefront since day one. This recent French court's ruling [2] indirectly supports this interpretation. [1]: [this video] [2]: [LINK]