Game publishers want to end preservation. But we have a chance to stop them.

▶Help take action against publishers destroying your games: stopkillinggames.com/
▶UK Petition: petition.parliament.uk/petiti...
▶Australia Petition: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/pe...
▶Ross Scott's original announcement video: • The largest campaign e...
▶Main channel: / mattkc
Uses "The Crew" footage from World of Longplays
longplays.org
Played by mihaibest

[@YellowPhosphorusDice]

Game publishers do garbage like this and then complain why piracy is at an all time high.

[@omorimanic7075]

@@superdf what the hell did i just read

[@simpIycashier]

@@superdf 💀

[@markusTegelane]

it's called the cobra effect, trying to stop piracy with anti-piracy just leads people to pirate more

[@bulutcagdas1071]

Except you can't pirate an online only DRM game. Unless you are smart enough to develop your own server emulator.

[@GrandSenna]

​@@markusTegelane almost like reverse psychology, or maybe it is that

[@Pars3ly]

If buying games doesn't mean owning them, then piracy doesn't mean they're stolen either 🤷

[@BayuBaron]

I get what you mean but they'll just say, "we sell the license for you to play the game, you stole the license"

[@mudachaproductions]

Piracy doesn't help if the game is still tied to a server that's no longer running.

[@impointr]

Ross explained this one time and time again. This saying means jack in this situation. Piracy has never been the be-all end-all solution to all problems this industry has.

[@ChaosPootato]

You can't even pirate The Crew, that's how fucked up things are

[@kr1v]

​@@BayuBaron "no I only stole the game files, I never got a licence ever"

[@BayuBaron]

Imagine dollar stores taking things off your house because they decided it's not yours anymore.

[@TeionM83]

Imagine the previous owner taking your house because they decided it's not yours anymore.

[@GrandSenna]

​@@TeionM83 imagine a car manufacturer decided the car you paid with your hard earn cash isn't yours anymore cuz your car model is either discontinued or they went defunct. now that I think abt it, it might be possible in the distant future

[@IneptOrange]

@@GrandSenna Well they're locking features like heated seats behind subscriptions now, so expect it to happen. Own nothing, be happy

[@monad_tcp]

@@GrandSenna That's why we need to act now and push right of repair and to change laws to make strong what "ownership" and "sell" means. Selling means forever, if you want to create a service don't call it selling. Buying is owning. At this point IP laws do more harm than good. Eventually we're going to have to change them, they were create to protect innovation but nowadays they're used to stop it, companies keep milking the same IP forever, on the other hand old IP you bought is evaporating like you never owned it.

[@GrandSenna]

@@IneptOrange yeah, not entirely sure if bmw is still doing this but, I wonder what else would turn into a subscription in the future

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

A consideration I'd like to reiterate is that this will erase a new generation of gamers' childhoods. A lot of us grew up with the 8-bit games, shareware stuff, et cetera, and we can go back and play those, and show our children and peers 'hey, this is our gaming history'. We can learn from them, build on them, et cetera. If this practice keeps going, the current generation will have NOTHING to look back on. No memories. No history. 'What did you do as a kid?' 'Well, I can't show you without getting into legal trouble.' Harrowing.

[@theangrymilitant]

Jesus Christ. I didn’t grow up on 8-Bit (even though I now own two NESs), but I have *very* fond memories of my GameCube and PS2. Memories I can simply go upstairs, swap some cables around, pop in a disc and relive whenever I want. I’ve always been on the side of preservation (I’m a collector after all), but everything you just said *REALLY* lays out how bad this is.

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

@@theangrymilitant PS2/GameCube is a great era to start on. Also still got mine downstairs, and if they ever deteriorate, I've got backups.

[@b.w.s3165]

That would unironically be helpful to companies is the sad part, because customers will be more aware if they remember that games used to be different and better while not being 80 dollars + dlc at launch (and still broken and missinf features)

[@Gravity_studioss]

I agree with you, but is gaming really the only thing you ever did as a child?

[@m4yr4i]

​@@Gravity_studiossit was a huge part of mine atleast, even though I did have other things I did.

[@markusTegelane]

I like how Ubisoft says they had to shut down The Crew servers, meanwhile TrackMania servers seem to be immortal

[@Damian-cilr2]

Yep,and trackmania (atleast the older one) is free too,the new one though,is not free and requires a subscribtion service

[@IvanMelonKing]

​@@Damian-cilr2 its completely free* * Only applies to the current seasonal campaign

[@ImXyper]

nadeo keeping the servers for a 1000 year old game with like 2 players up because someone might need it :

[@romeolz]

Lmao the ps4 trackmania turbo servers are still up, there are under 50 people in online servers

[@earthboiproductions2407]

TrackMania Nations ESWC still has its servers online. That game released in like 2006. WTF Ubisoft, you can run this but you can’t run The Crew? I call bullshit

[@Deadagent]

You should probably put this on the main channel too for maximum exposure

[@RachelWolfe]

+

[@avisprimey]

yeah

[@Yomush]

Remember guys this all started because of these words: "It doesn't affect me". It might not affect you right now but it WILL in the future

[@rabbitcreative]

'Funny' your comment has no replies until mine. You're right. Homelessness wasn't my problem until now.

What is that verse called that went "First they went for the (...) and when they went for me, no one was left to speak out."?

[@gellax111]

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me." - Martin Niemöller, about post WWI Germany

[@andylaw3222]

"I have nothing to hide" 😂

[@gameragodzilla]

This is why I refuse to buy any games that are live service or require a persistent connection to a server. Does mean I primarily stick to older games with the occasional indie or AA game on GOG, but that’s still enough content for me to enjoy.

[@emdotrod]

If a game company want to stop their official support to an online-only game, best just make the game's infrastructure open source so anyone who cared more with the game than them can continue the legacy.

[@ugoboom]

this would be such a good setup, if official discontinuation required public domaining all assets code etc

[@saiv46]

Kid named DMCA takedown: Companies like Nintendo, Take Two and (recently) Valve are known to take down projects that have nothing related to them but IP rights for games.

[@muggrootbeer]

Could be good but eh not gonna happen. It could screw them over in the long run, people get ahold of the code and it could fuck them over as it could have things that are private to them, ex like their server infrastructure for other Ubi games, their website. People (who) know how to reverse that code can develop things with their own code that can poorly effect Ubisoft. Plus them just being Ubidicks too. I'm not defending them just stating the logical reason on why it wont happen.

[@noccy80]

This would be the best thing, but even releasing the protocol specifications and such would be sufficient for the community to take over. Now the heroes have to sift through packet dumps in an attempt to reverse engineer it. The upside of that is that everything is "clean" (they observed what was flying by on the network, and wrote code to emulate the server end, without tainting themselves (legally that is, it's called "clean room design") with the original code) but the downside is people have to do a lot of extra work that they otherwise wouldn't have to, just to pick up the torch when the company drops it.

[@ButchLeColosse]

Making the game's infrastructure open source is not as easy of a task as you might think. Games often use in-house or licensed third-party libraries and these can't just be released to the public for free. In the end of the game's lifetime, the programmers would have to remove the dependencies to these libraries and this costs a lot of time and money. The ideal way would be to create the servers in a way that the transition from closed to open source can be made easily, but with all the crunchtime devs are faced with, this is just unnecessary overhead for development.

[@kaizerlock8287]

Publishers: Piracy is ruining this industry Also publishers: Let's give those pirates more reason to pirate our stuffs

[@LeonAlkoholik67]

2:53 Wrong. They did breaks laws. The end user license agreements are invalid if it conflicts with the law (no company is above the law). Here in Germany there are at least 1-2 paragraphs they did break with this, confirmed (see WBS Legal), and I think I heard in another video, that they also broke the law in the US as well, with this shady practice

[@NoGoodNameHelpPLZ]

I think it only matters if they broke laws in France not sure tho

[@SomeGuyNamedJJ]

@@NoGoodNameHelpPLZ Ubisoft have to follow the law of any country they operate in (at least for services avaliable in said country), so any law in any country that they want to release, or already have released a product in must be followed, meaning if this law gets passed even in one country then we will all feel a benefit.

[@kiddy1992]

@@NoGoodNameHelpPLZ The law of the country the customer resides in applies. It's why discord has user rights outside the USA and not inside. Because outside the USA they dont have aberration laws and they need to go through the Hague

[@stefanm.734]

Do you remember what US law was broken or what that video was? That would be _super_ important to let everyone know, since Ross thought the US was a lost cause.

[@wolfman210]

The US upheld Amazon's right to revoke user licenses for paid content just like Ubisoft did. Anyone who thinks Ubisoft is in legal hot water over this is delusional.

[@mon94key]

It's important to note the job in the UK is NOT done. It needs another 80k signatures to reach a parliament debate. At that stage you then need to contact your local MP and explain to them in simple terms what is the issue and why it is an issue for you and what the solution is. Without that MPs will just read ubisofts statements and say current legislation doesn't prevent them from doing this.

[@sourlemon3337]

I got a reply from the petition site saying coz of the general election coming up they will cancel any upcoming debates, or something along those lines. Which is frustrating

[@JamesTDG]

I purchased a used game from an estate sale, and I can't run it without access to servers. This game released in '06. This problem has persisted for FAR TOO LONG!

[@Splozy]

Yes, it's just the fashionable thing at the moment to care about. They'll all forget about it when the next fad hits social networks.

[@Twiddle_things]

I have 2004 HL2 and CS:S physically. I see the files, they're in there. I installed the games, but fucking they won't launch without Steam!!!!!!! And when they launch with Steam, Steam forces me to download the new shiny current year version. Piss off I want to see 2004 source

[@ninjagoboy46]

@@Splozyorrrrrrr, perhaps this situation with The Crew has been a gigantic wake-up call that's encouraging more people than ever to take this issue seriously?

[@Splozy]

@@ninjagoboy46 doubt it

[@0008loser]

​@Twiddle_things you do know you can go into offline mode right?

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

1:33 YES!! SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT!!! Campaigning for physical media is a representation of a sentiment, but NOT THE ANSWER.

[@UdderlyEvelyn]

It would be nice if that were included for "if server/company stops existing" scenarios.

[@KyleDavis328]

I mean, I've been saying for a while now that physical media hasn't meant shit for multiple console generations now. Remember when PS4's had a firmware bug that locked users out of _physical disc games_ when the CMOS battery died? I do. Or that Switch cartridges can be blacklisted if they're unique keys are found to be online on multiple consoles at the same time (discovered via MIG Switch). Or just the fact that on both PlayStation and Xbox the games haven't been fully contained on the discs for a while now... installing to the drive not only because Blu-ray isn't fast enough of a medium, but not large enough either, having to download the other half of a game from store servers. At any point in time, all three of the current consoles, plus the last-gen offerings from both Microsoft and Sony, can be remotely turned off, and it won't matter if you bought physical, it will all be gone (aside from piracy). So, if I have to eventually pirate all my games anyways on these consoles, might as well go for the convenience factor of digital anyways.

[@thetechconspiracy2]

@@KyleDavis328 Unless the Switch makes you connect to the internet to verify the cartridge isn't blacklisted, Switch games should remain playable as long as the physical hardware remains intact (bit rot is a concern, nothing lasts forever). Nintendo also somewhat solved the patching problem, as the Switch allows you to download patches off other consoles rather than using the eShop (granted, you still have to be around a console that has the patch downloaded).

[@Thornskade]

The online discourse about game preservation is really clouded by people who don't understand the difference between physical vs digital and DRM vs no DRM

[@obamallama4104]

​@@KyleDavis328replying so I can come back to this comment later. You're a G

[@NoriKassidy]

I love how "If buying isn't owning then pirating isn't stealing" is becoming the slogan for these movements against these megacorporations.

[@ben_1]

GIven they way the EU has been going with customer-protection lately with Apple, Google, etc. I'd say pressuring them isn't the worst idea.

[@tobyzilla]

Not at all hopefully they do the same for Nintendo and their outdated practices and force them to comply

[@Shy_002]

@@tobyzillaWhat has nintendo done other than anti piracy? I stopped keeping up with them after a while

[@myuzu_]

They do everything they legally can to assert control of their IP, and if there is no precedent they intimidate with massive lawsuits. Currently they're issuing DMCA takedowns to Garry's Mod for decades old ripped assets that have been on the steam workshop for almost as long ​@@Shy_002

[@tobyzilla]

@@Shy_002 everything involving mods and how to emulate your games

[@superNova5837]

They could pull an apple and only do it in the eu (at least sideloadijg apps)

[@wthrz]

"You no longer have access to this game. Why not check the Store to pursue your adventures?" is as corporate and anti-consumer as it gets. That should be grounds for an instant lawsuit.

[@Puxi]

Okay, own nothing?! Then we'll pay nothing!

[@vivi1649]

We don't need more plastic discs with incomplete builds of games. We need better consumer protection laws for digital media.

[@brianfear1921]

No kidding. I bought a used Final Fantasy X/X-2 physical copy for the Switch, only to find out half the content (X-2) is a DLC, and oops, someone had already redeemed the DLC. Returned it and bought a digital copy, because I really wanted it, but that's insane when you can't even trust physical media to have the entire game. That and the cartridge knew it had already been used on another Switch. They're trying to kill physical media directly.

[@vivi1649]

@@brianfear1921 I don't think they're trying to kill it as much as it's just the nature of the beast. There's _no reason_ why a game should remain incomplete after launch. Even some the best games of the generation (Elden Ring, Tears of the Kingdom) require Day One patches to iron them out, and it's not out of malice, rather it just means games don't remain incomplete or broken like the situation we had with Sonic 06 on PS3/360. Physical media is *_ALL_* bound to end up in a landfill. It's all disposable plastic, and beyond very special collector's editions, I simply find it very hard to justify it when you can store hundreds of games on a single HDD/SSD. That said, and going back to my original comment: We *NEED* better laws to protect consumers when it comes to digital media before it's too late.

[@TRDiscordian]

@@vivi1649day 1 patches are necessary because the industry made them necessary, it’s not an excuse. Individual physical medias like discs are necessary until we get more rights over our licenses for digital goods (ie: lending/trading/selling).

[@CatPCgaming]

Nintendo isn't out here breaking into my house to steal my old copies of Clubhouse games, Big brain academy, or Brain age, just because there's a switch release now, and Microsoft isn't preventing my dad from opening the 2007 office sweet that's installed on what used to be my mom's computer just because Office 365 is a thing, so then Ubisoft shouldn't be able to prevent people from playing the copies of their games that they bought with their own money.

[@thetechconspiracy2]

Actually, since every version of Office since XP requires activation Microsoft can and eventually will take it away from you, or at least prevent you from ever reinstalling it without a crack

[@Snooopy28]

honestly, they would all do it if they could what happened here is the wet dream of any publisher

[@Gravity_studioss]

​@@Snooopy28 And that raises the question: Why? I understand if they do not want to maintain the servers of a multiplayer game, but what makes them so Obsessed with the idea of completely eradicating every physical copy of their game?

[@Snooopy28]

@@Gravity_studioss i believe it is so that they can steer the industry in a "games as a service" type direction, so that they can have a monopoly on what you play, for how long

[@mauromerconchini]

Hell yea! Matt shining a light on Ross's campaign. As if this guy couldn't get any cooler.

[@polocatfan]

I'm ok with companies taking down multi-player servers (it sucks and they should allow people to host servers once they take them down, but it's a reasonable thing to do if your game doesn't get enough players to justify the cost.), but preventing a single player game from being played because it relied on servers that had no actual gameplay purpose and only existed for DRM is fucking stupid. also preventing people from downloading games they bought is also bullshit, but that's a different discussion entirely. EDIT: EULAs aren't necessarily legally binding. If they got sued the courts could possibly determine that it's null and void.

[@MrRetroDev]

Sadly, no matter how many times people complain and we say to "vote with your wallet", there's always a group who ignore that and still buys into Ubis BS, and then complains abut getting screwed over.

[@GamingSpider115]

And a Issue when people says “Boycott” like that would done anything. People wont “Vote With Their Wallet” or “Boycott this Company” making any type of Argument pointless

[@damianabregba7476]

Word needs to be spread

[@0008loser]

I mean look at pokemon it's thier worst quality game and it's thier best selling pokemon game

[@anonanonymous9670]

@@0008loser Because most Pokemon fans don't give a single f'*k about what a tiny echo chamber on Twitter says They just want the latest Pokemon game and that's it

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

If the solution is 'vote with your wallet', then the cause is doomed.

[@Diddz]

to sum it up with an analogy: its like buying a house, and having the financial responsibilities of a homeowner (mortgage/insurance/taxes/utility bills), but the restrictions and limitations of a renter (cant modify the structure/only leasing/appliance restrictions/can have lease terminated at any time and evicted for any reason outside of repo) and nobody will see through this UNTIL it both starts affecting them AND affecting anything near this analogy and its too late

[@Jan12700]

What you describe is somewhat common in Germany with monument protection (Denkmalschutz). It's to protect older houses (like houses from the early 1950) for demolition or even changes. One of the worst things that can happen to a house owner.

[@astrinix]

Reminds me of Minecrafts account migration. YES, you were warned about your account being deleted by microsoft however that does not justify that your paid ownership was revoked.

[@Hissymaster]

Signed the au petition digitally. Glad I'm making a difference. FOR PRESERVATION!

[@frozencatcake]

Same fr

[@bnuuyrabbit]

@@frozencatcake LETS GOOOOOO I WANT TO OWN THE GAMES I BUY

[@frozencatcake]

@@bnuuyrabbit frfr

[@kintustis]

If a company is not capable of engineering a product without a dead man's switch, then those products shouldn't be allowed to be sold at all.

[@Mike__B]

What we need is to throw EULAs into the same category as those "warranty void if broken" stickers, make them unenforceable and non-legally binding. I get not keeping a server online for a game that isn't making money, but if it's not a multi-player experience and the server is only used to authenticate the game there should be a legal obligation for the company to make it playable offline.

[@steam-powereddolphin5449]

And even if it is a multi-player game, the company should provide the game/server code to people who want to host their own private servers. Or enable P2P connections if that's all that the multiplayer needs.

[@davidbamberr]

Possible, considering these EULAs are presented to the customer post sale.

[@StNashable]

"What can we do about it?" Don't buy their games.

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

That won't fix it. See the Accursed Farms May videochat 2024, timestamp 1:48:01

[@derbrot2428]

I did my part! I filed a complaint to the verbraucherzentrale here in Germany. What Ubisoft's doing is just insane

[@DRAGONSAREPRETTYCOOL]

Good thing i never liked ubisoft in general

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

@@DRAGONSAREPRETTYCOOL Good luck once the games you DO like start doing this as well.

[@DRAGONSAREPRETTYCOOL]

@@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches then if that happens i'll probably only play my game that i'm working on which won't be any of this (and if someone tries to force it(aka if playstation,etc tries to) then i'm going to take down my game[btw my game is still being worked on so i hope gaming companies don't ruin that for me because i want people to be able to play my game and be able to enjoy when it finally releases]

[@yipflaptheexecutioner6519]

@@DRAGONSAREPRETTYCOOL Yeah but...I can't imagine you'd get much enjoyment out of a game that you yourself created. I mean, you know every detail and know the levels inside and out, the fun of a game is the challenge and experiencing something new. Even still, only playing one game can get boring no matter how good it is. You aren't looking at this realistically, it doesn't matter if you don't like Ubisoft (which a lot of people do enjoy many of their games) it sets a bad precedence for the future. Seriously, did you even watch the video? The airline industry is a good example of this. 9/11 was an excuse for many airline companies to enforce certain policies and hemorrhage money from people.

[@DanielBerthellemy]

If Buying is not owning, Pirating is not stealing.

[@clodolcmidnights837]

Remember If there’s no legal way to get a product Don’t be surprised when people start singing sea shanties

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

Sadly I don’t think there is a cracked version of the crew flopping on a bench some where over yonder. And once more games use this method, our sailing ships will be useless :(

[@leeartlee915]

This is why I laugh at people who say “physical or nothing”. People clearly don’t see where the industry is heading.

[@ChrisWijtmans]

to nothing?

[@leeartlee915]

@@ChrisWijtmans It’s heading to the point where the games you “buy” are just download codes, whether you get them off a digital store or a disc.

[@Snooopy28]

not to mention that a lot of game disks dont contain the entirety of the games themselves, either theyre mostly a '"gateway" to the digital edition, when you put it into your console last generation that had 100% of the game on the disk was the PS2 era

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@Snooopy28 "last generation that had 100% of the game on the disk was the PS2 era" Well, even before that it wasn't guaranteed. Search up "Garfield: The Lost Levels", it's a real old case of some parts of the game not being included in the cartridge & only being available through a TV service.

[@silverghost3063]

When I was younger I thought piracy was wrong, but now it seems to be the only way to raise the middle finger towards big companies in a way that actually makes them take notice.

[@dry4smash946]

Honestly its not only that, as a nintendo fan i wouldn’t even be a nintendo fan if i havent pirated the wii games since they were not available in my country, fast forward to now and i have a switch with games that are not pirated since they are available now, would i affect the wii sales if i pirated, i dont think so.

[@Dewm_]

Canada's petition is up too! Really easy and quick to sign.

[@Respectable_Username]

I added my signature to the Australian petition a couple of weeks ago, so all I can do now is leave a comment here in the hopes the algorithm continues to spread this message to more people! This is our one shot, our one opportunity, to make sure the law is on our side. I hope we can capture it and not let it slip. Mom Spaghetti.

[@NeilHaskins]

It should be illegal for companies to use the term "buy" for something that's not permanent ownership.

[@berg_]

"It's only a matter of time before it happens to a game you *do* care about" hello from the now-underground Echo VR community lmao

[@xymaryai8283]

i played it on a friend's headset before it shut down, never been more mad about losing a game i barely touched if its an answer you can give, where does one find the entrance to the underground?

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

People don’t even realise that most games are live services. For example if you have brought any game from steam, then it is a live service.

[@thisnameisbad3609]

​@@xymaryai8283i think you get there through some mountain called... mount ehmot??

[@tomtravis858]

​@@illpunchyouintheface9094Steam DRM is extremely easy to remove

[@kaden-sd6vb]

Fucking rip oculus. That buyout set the vr industry back so hard...

[@frogmouth2]

Another issue I think should be highlighted is a lot of modern multiplayer games aren’t built to last these days. They release with a price tag, expect you to pay for some season pass or founders bundle when the gameplay isn’t even tried and tested yet. Recently multiversus had a season pass while in its *BETA* . The crew shutting down is another example of an online, potentially live service game failing to meet expectations.

[@Pallerim]

One of my greatest fears is Microsoft buying Valve/Steam because of things like this, and the inevitable forced Microsoft account integration.

[@Jan12700]

As long as Gabe is alive he doesn't sell Valve. Also Valve is printing Money, even with all the Money of MS they can't give him more than Valve makes.

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

Sadly value is apart of the problem even as it is now

[@dylldj]

If Ubisoft didn't have a government-enforced monopoly over The Crew IP, none of this "online only" bs would've happened

[@eternal221]

Weird way to spell "copyright rights" but...alr- I get what you're saying but I think you're not looking at the correct part of the problem.

[@MysticRL]

Uh, no, it would have? Even if others were allowed to use The Crew IP, the original game made by Ubisoft would be exactly the same, online-only

[@EKUL34]

Signed for Australia!

[@bnuuyrabbit]

LETS GOOOOO

[@_GhostMiner]

I wish the best for us, and the possible worst for publishers.😊

[@Thermality790]

When Ubisoft was talking about licenses I believe they were talking about car licenses so they can use real life cars, this is the number 1 reason why racing games get pulled from storefronts, though their license for using a car brand running out doesn't justify taking away people's copies, they could have just stopped selling the game and let existing owners play offline

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

Just remove the model and let me drive around in an ERROR model.

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

That is very understandable for a company to stop selling a game. But they do not have to rip it from peoples pockets

[@kojyxenia2746]

I hope we can extend this petitions to any kind of digital or physical licenses that were previously purchased by a consumer and not just games. Any media that is not suscription based, one purchased must remain in some working capacity because I feel like if we our goal is just games, companies will try to find loopholes and say "wel our product is not a game, is an art engine that may have progression and other things" God I hope that this goes somewhere and we actually make a change

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

Problem is, we'd invite a lot of very powerful enemies if we did that. It would be better to sneak in a law on the videogaming front first.

[@jamsaltifyouwill]

i'm a uk citizen and i signed the petiton very early on. i was told by someone i knew through discord. the government response isn't really much of a response, essentially saying that because there isn't any laws currently requiring game publishers to keep their games in working state, there's nothing that they can do to stop said publishers from pulling support, because naturally certain tech will be outdated and will be a waste of resources to keep them going. it's a massive none answer (which in my opinion is pretty typical for the uk government), and the only thing that we can do is hope that the petition reaches 100,000 signatures so that it can be discussed in parliament, which then again i wouldn't be surprised if it gets shut down there, but it's worth a shot. uk petitions last for 6 months, and the deadline for this one is in october. as of now it's 1/5 of the way there in just under two months, but there hasn't been much activity. hopefully that could change if more people talk about it, because it's not even just about games either, like what about films and music? this could easily happen to those mediums as well. part of the reason why i want this discussion to be had. that being said, thank you matt for bringing awareness. i've tried myself but i'm an internet lurker and don't have the platform or following to make any sort of impact.

[@gallium-gonzollium]

Companies say games on how to move, and piracy says companies on how to prove.

[@henrybitencourt]

The anti consumer bullshit keeps poping up in mega corporations Worldwide i hate this

[@user-fq2mz4ho9f]

Nothing is owned, Everything is permitted.

[@Bobbias]

Companies should be legally required to open source servers and any additional tooling/data for a game when the game reaches end of life. As soon as the company decides it's not worth it to continue to provide service, the community should have the opportunity to run that service themselves. Fuck corporate greed. Most AAA games suck compared to games released by small teams that actually care anyway.

[@EnderSackboy]

As an Australian gamer, I've already done my part and signed the petition.

[@spencerbrown3875]

If buying isn’t owning, the piracy isn’t stealing.

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

That doesn't help if you can't pirate the game because all of it is on the publisher's server.

[@TheSUPERWIND2023]

Imagine Ronald McDonald going to your table and taking away your half eaten Big Mac that you paid for that is expensive in 2024 and said "sorry, you do not own this".

[@ExtremeBirdTypography]

I've been thinking about this sentiment for a while, for a lot of games, and it's starting to make my blood boil. Ownership and preservation are big reasons, but it also just feels like a lack of faith in the game itself. If a company makes an online-only live service game, and they don't take _any_ measures to keep those games accessible in the future, it feels like an explicit statement to consumers: "We do not value our product as an artwork or experience. Its only purpose is money." They don't believe their game has _any_ value as a game. This just makes me feel like Ubisoft _hates_ The Crew 1 and wants you to forget it ever existed. Why should I expect a game to be good if even the company doesn't have any faith in its quality? It's just something to squeeze money out of gamers for a couple months or years, then the game is totally worthless to them. In the past, a game might flop commercially, but unless something goes seriously wrong, you'd be able to buy it and experience it for all of the work and effort put into it. Even bad games had value, not just monetarily, but intrinsically. Now, a game only has to be "mid" or "a couple years old" or "not a breakaway hit" before the company scraps the _entire_ thing, doing everything they can to make sure nobody can ever experience the game again. Obviously there are some games where making an offline mode doesn't make a ton of sense, like MMOs, but the vast majority of games make a piss-poor excuse for why they should be treated like a centralized online-only game. Just giving people a means to continue playing is enough to show consumers that, even if it's a commercial failure, your game is still _a game._

[@cedricksusername]

Glad you made this video, wouldn't have known about the campaign otherwise. Just signed the Canadian petition, hopefully it gets attention in parliament. Canada being home to quite a lot of game studios (including Ubisoft's biggest), it could have a big impact.

[@krono9451]

I'm an acadrmic researcher studying the relationship between video games and wellbeing. It's going to be a massive hyperbole, but if this will become the norm within the gaming industry, then at some point in my career I won't have anything to do reseafch on.

[@RadioactiveBlueberry]

What do you mean you won't have anything to research? This single decision has almost no impact what people keep doing with their leizure time, they are most likely to just pick another game. In fact, it should be a research opportunity, how various aspects in gaming affects individuals statistically.

[@Skeletons_Riding_Ostriches]

@@RadioactiveBlueberry How are people going to pick another game once this practice spreads to the entire industry? This is not, and never has been about "just one game", and Ross Scott has explicitly stated so multiple times. This is about ALL videogames for ALL time.

[@yipflaptheexecutioner6519]

@@RadioactiveBlueberry tbf, he did say it was massive hyperbole.

[@jacksonterry4273]

Signed the UK petition. We’re at 26K+ Let’s crack 100K like a can of cola!

[@m4rt_]

The Crew was the first game I ever bought a physical copy of. (though technically it's not an actual physical copy of it, just a disk with a license key so you can download it) This was a punch in the gut for me, and I didn't even play it that often. So it must have been a lot worse for those who played it a lot more than I did.

[@scpnoobers]

Finally a campaign that actually took off and is getting a lot of publicity. I hope it all goes through

[@WilliamAhlert]

I have shared the petition with my local member of parliament and signed. I urge all UK citizens who are eligible to vote to do so.

[@NickkAtNyte]

"Just buy a physical copy." That's my least favorite counterpoint when issues like this arise. The last time I built a computer that had a CD and/or DVD drive was like, 2010. The vast majority of computers don't have CD/DVD drives, and haven't for the last 10 years, if not longer.

[@crugg]

Thank you! We need more people to be aware of this. The Crew was a part of my childhood, and it was taken away from me. And yes, an offline mode would have been easy. The actual multiplayer part isn’t server-based, it’s peer to peer, and when your router doesn’t support that, it’s just off. The servers are only for tracking stats and connecting players with each other.

[@SuperAronGamerMNO]

You uploaded this basically while I was holding an argumentative speech against Ubisoft in school. More specifically, in Swedish class, we had to do an argumentative speech about words and expressions, and I chose to talk about how companies use vague or misleading expressions to trick consumers, and The Crew was one of my main examples.

[@APainfulMemory]

You need to post this on your main channel it's way to important to be stuck on here.

[@bacon.cheesecake]

This has been a problem for decades, I have physical copies of games from the early 2000s that I can't play anymore because of the drm.

[@Wieprzek]

Thanks for promoting this!!!

[@MuchWhittering]

I'm a big Hitman fan, but the modern Hitman games put a huge amount of the game behind the online servers, despite the games being 100% single player gameplay. They even released Hitman 2016 on GOG with the online DRM still intact (It got removed quickly after fan backlash). And yeah, this is a real problem. Big Assassin's Creed fan too, is Ubisoft gonna take my AC from me at some point too? I know it's easy to hate on Ubisoft specifically, but this is far from just a Ubisoft problem. It's a real industry-wide problem. Don't expect those petitions to do anything though. Especially right now, the UK Government is currently focused on looting as much as they can before they're voted out of power in a few months. The last thing they care about right now is consumer protection.

[@doufmech4323]

For clarity's sake the Online DRM did not get removed, the whole game got removed from the store. A few years later, they still haven't brought the game back.

[@Headgamerz]

Thank you for talking about this. As a US resident there is not much I can do about the issue, but I’m glad others are talking up the issue.

[@atreides241]

Thumbs up for spreading the message. We need everyone who could help to stop this!

[@SUPDOZ]

meanwhile in the United States I guarantee nothing will change...

[@0rdyin]

The biggest reason I haven't bought Ghost Reccon breakpoint yet... why does a single player game has to be always online..?

[@MeatFingerSteam]

Definitely going to follow these steps! I don't want to lose access to my games.... that'd be a bad precedent. Thanks MattKC!

[@MrTechfreak95]

I think its not even only bad for players but dont forget: Many people worked on that game and surly where proud of their work, and now? Nobody can enjoy that pice of art anymore...

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

Yea…

[@b4ttlemast0r]

Another Ubisoft game, Steep, has the same problem. It's primarily a single player game with the multiplayer content being pretty much just a nice to have on top, but it's online only and your save data is stored on Ubisoft's servers. I wanted to play the game again from the beginning because I had forgotten everything since I last played, but turns out you literally can't reset your save file. I guess you have to buy the game twice to play it twice. We have to raise awareness of this *before* a game goes offline!

[@Anonymouthful]

This is what people should be raging about, not about Ubisoft using a black character in their Assassins Creed game.

[@Respectable_Username]

Coming back to watch this, this really is one of the best summary videos on the situation to share with others. You hit all the most important points clearly and compellingly within only 5 mins, which means it can be sent to those with no prior familiarity to help convince them to take action. Great work, Matt, and I do hope you think to put this on your main channel, either copy pasted directly or at least linked from a community post! More people need to see this so they can more easily share the campaign with their friends and networks

[@vendetta.02]

Ubisoft could have also released the server backend code if they wanted and allowed players to self-host third-party servers to allow multiplayer still.

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

Rockstar did it first and multiple times (GTA Trilogy, removing Red Dead Online from the game people paid full price for, made it a buyable standalone and cancelled it after people rebought the content they paid for) and no one batted an eye, [unpopular publisher X] did it once (The Crew) and became the face of it. Ubisoft have definitely fallen off since they ditched Rayman, but as bad as they are, they're still not the worst for this.

[@noobiumbaconate]

how does R* get away all the time with the shit mfs do tbh

[@Lege19]

I don’t have anything to say but I’m commenting so the algorithm will show this to more people. Please do not like this comment but instead do the same

[@dickygushy]

I'm adding a comment to your comment because I hear KZbin is fond of discourse

[@volodyadykun6490]

The main problem here is needless connection to the internet, because yeah as he said I expect companies will shut down servers ultimately

[@ExtremeWreck]

Why do I feel like this is FAR from the only time this has happened? It's bound to have happened at least FIVE times.

[@jutn2]

Similar situation could also occur with Steam because you don't actually own any of your Steam games, you only have a license to play them through the Steam.

[@letcreate123]

Difference is, Valve is actually very good about honoring the license you obtain when you purchase a game through their storefront.

[@TristenSarelvun]

@@letcreate123 Yeah, even when games can no longer be sold on Steam, it still allows people who already own it to download and play. Besides, even with physical games, you still only own a license to play that copy of the game (you don't "own the game" as in its copywrite and stuff); it's just an irrevocable license, barring things like The Crew... and all online-DRM games... which are most of them these days. So yeah, in another decade or two, so many games released in the past decade or so will be unplayable unless something changes.

[@steam-powereddolphin5449]

Tell that to the games that can run without the Steam API.

[@Benrob0329]

I neither played nor even knew this game existed before now, but I now have the strange desire to don a pirate's hat and sail the seas-

[@kidkangaroo5213]

that doesn't help anything, you can't pirate the game

[@Benrob0329]

@@kidkangaroo5213You can if people get those community servers working

[@anonanonymous9670]

You probably don't even know how to pirate a game....

[@Sunlight91]

It's not just games. Every product you purchase and relies on digital infrastructure needs to be open-soured if the developer decides to discontinue it.

[@pyre78]

Things like this is the reason why I decide to pirate any games I'm interested in before I buy them. Developers can make terrible or even in some situations : Unplayable products and there is little recourse since we pay before exactly knowing what the entirety of the product is like. Additionally, ANY games that cannot be played offline WITHOUT a connection to a server will never receive my money.

[@thatonefoxxy]

The EU consumer protection and DGCCRF are gonna have a field day on this one

[@illpunchyouintheface9094]

We can only hope

[@thiesenf]

YARRRRRRRRR!!! Let the Jolly Roger wave high in the skies!!! FUCK OFF greedy and capitalistic corporations!!!

[@Request_2_PANic]

Until it's addressed and resolved, we should boycott Ubisoft games as a whole.

[@MintyVoid]

I appreciate you making this video, I've literally never heard of the initiative and the site. Despite being in the game space, I don't think a single other yt I sub to has mentioned them.

[@bonkmaykr]

"Server costs and licensing constraints" is just a sugar-coated way of saying "we didn't want to spend any money to fix the game because we are greedy". Ubisoft is not poor, they have no excuse 😭

[@mjdxp5688]

This is why I personally will never buy any game from Ubisoft out of principle, and I hope all of you do the same. Unless it's something like a used copy of a Nintendo DS cartridge, I can't be certain that Ubisoft will try to take games I've purchased away from me.

[@ccf_1004]

If they want to shut down the servers for a game that is reliant on them to function, they should be legally obligated to do one or both of the following: 1. Open source the server code 2. Provide a means for people to run the server on their own hardware

[@jaycrumpacker8493]

This issue is also huge in the film and tv industry, where they just take down shows and movies shortly after releasing (usually for tax write off)

[@henrysanecdotes5323]

“Honey, why are the fbi and media outside our door? Did you cause a huge uproar that will result in the setting of an important precedent for the industry again”

[@Sythemn]

So... for the minimal amount of overhead that a fraction of a server is per region the game was sold in around the world... I 100% actually do expect a company to continue supporting it forever with one get out of jail free card. They can "support" it by distributing the server software when they are no longer willing to run the servers.

[@s6edge7]

But I don't buy them . If paying isn't owning , pirating isn't stealing .

[@TheOfficalAndI]

If buying a game doesn't mean owning it, downloading the game doesn't mean stealing it.

[@Emily_Bondevik_Official]

It's happening to horse games too. Riding Club Championships. Horse Star. Mission Equitation Online. So many old horse riding MMOs nearly lost to time, CDs for Horse Star and MEO rendered EWaste because the CDs had a website link to where you downloaded these games. Riding Club Championships cheaply remade in Unity for Facebook. So I'm leading a group that preserves old horse riding games. Because horse games are games too. Please don't exclude them from preservation. They're real games that real children grew up playing.

[@johnquigleyiii7685]

Nintendo isn't anti-preservation, they have a lot of content preserved, it is part of the reason they hired an iNes dev back in the 90s, who helped them to dump their NES games. That is why there was an iNes header in earlier collections of NES games. Nintendo just doesn't want public archival or "preservation" by means of having 1000s of ROMs of Games you never owned.

[@UdderlyEvelyn]

They shit on projects that make spinoffs of their IP and emulators these days. They aren't anti-preservation but they aren't too supportive of fair use or emulation outside of their emulators.

[@kennytheamazing]

@@UdderlyEvelyn Fair use is unfortunately not a thing in Japan, so it's not strange that a Japanese company has this mindset.

[@micah0000]

​​@@UdderlyEvelyn While I hate that they do that, it is also important to mention that they primarily strike down the ones that make *money* off of their assets in some way, shape, or form (like paywalling versions of the emulator or allowing people to pay Robux for extra stuff in Roblox fan games for example). Nintendo isn't really unpredictable imo. There are still plenty of fan games and emulators out there that hasn't had any issues with Nintendo after all.

[@jasperc.2398]

This is just like all other forms off media. Such as shows, movies, and music. You might've "bought it", but you're gonna loose it when the company decides to shut it down.

[@___aZa___]

Thank you for talking about this!