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  Altern4tiveAcc
  PSA for anyone considering reading it: this article is full of LLMisms and was probably generated from a prompt.That being said, I agree with the premise. Most of those cultural preservation issues wouldn't be a problem if users had control over their computing.The problems caused by game servers going offline aren't necessarily specific to games, and the cultural preservation aspect can be applied to other programs as well. This essay explain what those problems are in a very accessible manner: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-s...
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  nerdjon
  This is basically advocating for open source games which is a completely different story than what stop killing games is trying to do.There are tons of closed source games that have zero online component to them.I don't see how you can actually argue that this is a good thing, especially when they say:> The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.That... basically kills the entire gaming industry.Am I missing something serious here or is this really trying to advocate for that.
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  ryandrake
  If I subscribe to a service for $M/mo, I expect that service to work as long as I pay for it. If the maintainer of that service decides to turn it off and no longer charge me money, then so be it. I subscribed with eyes open about the lifetime that $M got me.If I buy a product for $N one-time charge, I expect that product to work basically forever, until it physically breaks or wears out. I have woodworking tools over 50 years old. I would never expect Craftsman to sneak into my garage one day and destroy them because "they're old and unsupported and I should just buy new ones." I don't expect Toyota to repossess my car because it's hard to supply parts for old cars and they really just need me to buy another one.So why is it OK for a software developer to just arbitrarily decide to flip a switch and remove my ability to use a product I paid for?EDIT: I realize I am arguing for subscription pricing for software, which I am generally against. But for a game that requires a server operating in order to function, perhaps subscription pricing is more appropriate at least for that kind of game. It's still not appropriate for games or tools that run natively and don't have a significant reason for their logic to reside in a server.
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  eckesicle
  My father was a printer his entire life. I went with him to work one day when I was around 12 years old. He loaded up a box of, what seemed to me a random selection of flyers, booklets and other printed goods in his car, and together we drove to the National Archives (in Sweden).He explained to me that every media artifact of cultural significance would be stored there in three (I believe) copies for future generations to enjoy, or researchers, or historians.I was given a tour by an archivist there and this became a core memory of mine.I was always at unease growing up, wondering what would happen to video games when they no longer became popular. Would I be able to enjoy them when I got older? Would my children ever be able to play the games that shaped my teenage years?The discussion around the matter of Stop Killing Games always devolves to one around free labour or around infringing the rights of the creator, but at some point, when a game, or a film, or a book is no longer monetised, makers of cultural works should be obliged to archive and ensure that our shared cultural heritage and identity is preserved for the future.Film makers, authors, printers, ad agencies, music producers, and many others are already obliged to do this in many countries.Why should video game producers be exempt?It's just better for all of us, and our children, if these works of art are preserved, and that at an insignificant effort and cost, compared to the cost of developing it.
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  roywiggins
  Pangram flags this as 100% LLM output fwiw
• HelloUsername
  Related: "The California state assembly has passed the 'Protect Our Games Act'" 29-may-2026 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48328365 277 comments
• CobrastanJorji
  For a multiplayer game, especially for something like an MMO where there's lots and lots of content that exists only on the server, there's an interesting question. How do you keep the game going? Do you force the company to release a full working server with all of its content? I'm not opposed to that, but it's a much taller ask than "allow the end users to keep using their clients."But then who's allowed to run servers? Can I modify the servers and mod them and republish my changes? Does killing the game also need to cancel any copyright on any server-side assets?But then we need to get into licensing. What if Fortnite goes offline and they publish their server assets? Does that give me the right to use Naruto and Family Guy avatars on my homebrew server?
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  itvision
  I love it but how do people tolerate the Steam launcher? Why is it a requirement to launch ages old games that lost support aens ago and do not even support Windows 10/11 and the best way to launch them is under emulation or virtualization, e.g. in Windows XP, but modern Steam is not compatible with XP, so ... you're screwed?Valve could have made `steam.dll` optional for really old games but DRM is DRM and it's here to stay.
• qweqwe14
  It's not pee-pee — it's poo-poo.
• mattbis
  Stop playing games ;Can't see how an independent developer would ever be able to do this. We need more independent things not less... this would be my concern.Better legislation would be to force developers to at least allow people to run their own servers.
• stuaxo
  I think they are taking a limited[1] but pragmatic approach.[1] This is still way more than the industry would want.If the are successful we will see quite a bit more open source.
• enmerk4r
  Free games aren't as crazy an idea as one might think, the same way open-source projects like Blender are able to make quite a bit of money. If any of you are fans of space simulator games, I'd check out Kitten Space Agency by RocketWerkz. Their intention is to make this game not only free but DRM-free, so that users can legally put it on a thumb drive and share it with each other. You can also play it entirely offline. Because it's an educational game that's a spiritual successor to a beloved Kerbal Space Program with a significant cult following, they are hoping to continue the project via donations and by partnering with educational institutions. We'll see if this works out for them, seems a little ambitious, but I really hope they set a precedent.
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  krupan
  The discussion here is amazing! Takes me right back to the early days of Linux and discovering Free Software. How will developers eat?? Who would write software for free?? These people clearly didn't think this through!! Amazing to hear it all again, lol!Let's think about it. Free software just applies to the source code. Artwork, logos, even trademarked names are not Free. Support, services, and documentation can also be non Free. This is the Red Hat business model and they make a ton of money.Right now several very popular games are free or almost free to install and play. The game studios make money off of in game purchases. There's no reason that couldn't continue.Games could be Free but connecting to the server for multiplayer would of course cost money.What about anti cheating? I think motivated software engineers working together around the world could come up with solutions to this. Or (and?), good social engineers could come up with incentives/punishments that heavily encourage fair play. I worry about this one the least. Here's one idea that my son just made me aware of this morning. Some game he was playing allowed him FPV of his teammates after he was eliminated from the round. He saw his teammate could see through walls. This angered my son and he called the teammate out. The cheating was defeated.
• 2001zhaozhao
  > If you're a gamer who has watched a $70 purchase turn into a useless desktop icon overnight, you're entirely justified in your outrage.If you're a gamer whose game became unplayable from cheaters running hacked clients because the game's developer decided to share their source code online, you're entirely justified in your outrage.
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  applfanboysbgon
  > What gamers are actually experiencing is the inherent injustice of proprietary software.The inherent injustice of developers being able to eat? The entire reason we're in this mess of a field is because of this ideological purity crusade. We could have a world where independent developers make a modest living producing good software that people pay a reasonable amouunt for, but because everyone expects everything for free, the majority of developers are forced into working for soulless corporations, who make the money that pays their salaries with the most predatory software imaginable, spamming ads, tracking, and microtransactions all over "free" software.You also always have control over the programs that run on your own computer. Reverse engineer it if you care; the tools have always been there. The article mentions DRM, which is almost always bypassed, and private servers, which people do host -- so where's the lack of control, exactly? You just feel entitled to be given everything on a silver platter, you can't even be bothered to put effort into taking free stuff. Give me a break.To be clear, I am fully in support of Stop Killing Games. Especially given the annoying copyright regime around hosting private servers, legislation to mandate some kind of fallback for termination is helpful. But trying to pin this cause to this horrible movement that has done 100x more harm than good? No thanks.
• wilg
  It should be legal to make and sell proprietary software with whatever server entanglements you want as long as they are clearly disclosed.If customers and care about open source and free software games, they will support them. There is no need to dictate the funding model people want to use for art or software products. This is an industry with an unbelievable amount of competition.
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  mohamedkoubaa
  I'm confused, does the author (or prompter, it would seem) of this article really feel entitled to game servers running indefinitely?
• wegwerper
  Wonder why this author felt the need to destroy his article with LLM content / proofreading?Submissions on HN with interesting titles keep ending up being revealed as AI slop halfway down towards them making their point.Authors: you don't need this. Don't disrespect your reader's time with LLM slophancement.
• anon
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  willmadden
  Idiots putting their noses where they don't belong. We do not need legislation for this. It would kill the gaming industry.
• triyambakam
  Every time I read this I think it means to "stop games that promote killing"
• anon
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  tosti
  Yes, please. Also ask yourself why that old tumble dryer, fridge, amplifier, vacuum cleaner and water cooker from 40+ years ago refuse to die while modern units die about the same week the warranty expires.They make you buy new or else the manufacturers fear going out of business. It's just sad that this has extended to practically everything.