UK MPs Increase Pressure on Gaming Companies Over “Stop Killing Games” Practice
London, UK – A growing chorus of UK Members of Parliament are voicing concerns over the practice of game publishers removing purchased titles from access, a movement dubbed “Stop Killing Games.” The issue centers around digital game licenses being revoked, rendering games unplayable even for customers who have legitimately purchased them.
Leeds South West and Morley MP mark Sewards, a member of a parliamentary group focused on consumer protection, has highlighted the unfairness of the practice, noting that purchasers are often not informed of the possibility of their games becoming inaccessible at the point of sale. He also expressed fears that this could set a precedent extending too physical goods as digital technology becomes more integrated into everyday items.
“If you buy something in one working state and then the maker of that thing remotely makes changes to your purchased item that makes it function differently, is it really the same thing you originally purchased?” a commentator noted, pointing to the prevalence of similar issues with Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Sewards clarified that the aim isn’t to impose unreasonable demands on gaming companies, but rather to ensure basic consumer rights are protected. he stated, “A publisher should not be able to deliberately disable every copy of a game that consumers have already purchased, leaving them with nothing.” He further emphasized, “The publisher should have a duty to ensure that the game, purchased and owned by the consumer, remains playable in some way.”
The potential legal challenge stems from a lack of transparency regarding the longevity of access to purchased games.Concerns revolve around questions of support duration, continued functionality, and the potential for legal action against community-led efforts to maintain game infrastructure when publishers withdraw support.
Warinder Juss, Labor MP for Wolverhampton West, echoed these concerns, calling for new regulations.”We do not accept our mobile phones being switched off whenever a company produces a new model and wants us to buy a new model,” Juss said. “So why should we allow thousands of pounds worth of games being made unplayable because new games have been introduced?”
While significant hurdles remain, including considerable lobbying efforts from corporate interests, these initial moves represent a crucial step towards bolstering consumer protection in the rapidly expanding gaming market. The core issue, as one observer put it, is a essential choice: “Either you want people to own what thay’ve bought or you want corporate interests to determine just how long you get to use the thing you permanently traded your hard-earned money for. It really is that simple.”
Filed Under: mark sewards, stop killing games, uk, video games, warinder juss
