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UK government isn’t planning to take action against video game shutdowns

The UK government has no plans to intervene in video game shutdowns, as game developers and publishers are left with existing laws. See how this affect the gamers.

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Mayank
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No action against video game shutting down in UK (Photograph: Ubisoft)

Gamers are hoping to save their beloved titles from being shut down but were left disappointed. Live-service video games or online-only games are usually shut down after a few years if they stop hitting revenue goals. In an attempt to stop this, a petition ‘Stop Killing Games’ was submitted to the UK government.

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As noted by Eurogamer, the government responded to the call revealing they are aware of the issue. “We are aware of issues relating to the life-span of digital content, including video games, and we appreciate the concerns of players of some games that have been discontinued,” the response said.

Sadly, the follow-up wasn’t what gamers wanted to hear. “We have no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence, but we will monitor this issue and consider the relevant work of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) on consumer rights and consumer detriment,” the statement added.

Video game companies to follow existing provisions

The gaming companies in the UK are expected to follow the current laws under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs). As such, they are free to stop supporting older versions of their product.

Apart from early warnings on the products, companies aren’t obligated to keep the game running forever. “It may be difficult and expensive for businesses to maintain support for old software, particularly if it needs to interact with new technologies,” the statement notes.

However, in case a company leads people to believe that the game will be available indefinitely, under CPR, they will have to do so through various measures including an offline patch. Something that MultiVersus did with its final update, likely due to the company not delivering on the promised content.

Also Read: Ubisoft getting sued by gamers for shutting down ‘The Crew’ servers

What does this mean for gamers in the UK?

The petition came after Ubisoft announced shutting down servers for ‘The Crew’ and the denial of action against companies shuttering video games does come as a setback for the cause.

For now, However, this likely doesn’t end everyone’s efforts to preserve video games as similar petitions are in circulation and hoping to attract focus from other authorities like the European Union in hopes of preserving the game, even if it’s simile making the games offline.

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