The European Commission Examines the Closure of GAAS

The initiative "Stop Destroying Videogames" aims to preserve games designed to run on a server, whose existence is therefore tied to the accessibility of the server itself. We have seen in recent years that video games conceived as a service, when they are no longer profitable, are inexorably shut down and thus are lost forever, but does it have to be this way?

The European Commission's Response

In January, the initiative was brought to the attention of the European Commission, which has now provided an official response. The EC clarifies that it cannot impose a legally binding obligation regarding game accessibility, because discretion on the matter rests with those who hold the intellectual property rights. In other words, the European Union cannot force a publisher to keep a video game playable even after support for it has ended.

What the Commission does intend to do, however, is to establish a dialogue with industry operators to form a code of conduct shared by the video game industry regarding game closures. Furthermore, the Commission intends to collaborate with consumer associations and competent authorities to increase consumer awareness of their rights.