The British official organization has recently made an official response to the player's petition to "stop killing the game", but only bad news came.
At the beginning of this year, Ubisoft decided to terminate the online support of "Cool Car". As a game requiring permanent networking, it means that the game will never be played again. Similar things have happened to many games before. Ross Scott, a player dissatisfied with this, launched a petition to "stop killing the game", hoping to persuade the government to create laws to safeguard the rights and interests of players through pressure from game players. The game developer is required to ensure that the game can still be played after the network service is stopped.
According to the UK government and parliamentary petition website 10000 signed petitions will receive official responses, and "Stop Killing the Game" has far exceeded this standard, attracting more than Support from 23000 players.
However, the official response cannot satisfy the players. In response, the British Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports wrote: "Consumers should be aware that British law does not require software companies and suppliers to support old versions of operating systems, software or connectivity products. In some cases, companies may make business decisions based on the high operating costs of maintaining the declining user base of old video game servers."
"British law requires relevant consumer information to be 'clear and correct', and prohibits omission, concealment or incorrect presentation of such information 'in an unclear, difficult to understand, ambiguous or inappropriate manner'. For this reason, if consumers believe that the game will be played for an unlimited period in some systems, even though physical support has ended, then (Consumer Protection Ordinance) The game may be required to remain technically playable (e.g. offline). "
The official pointed out that players can report violations of these regulations to the relevant consumer hotline, and have the right to repair, replace or "refund" digital games if they violate legal requirements. However, a strong suggestion was put forward at the end of the response, that is, the passage of time is not necessarily a quality assurance problem.
"Consumers should also be aware that although they have the legal right to have satisfactory quality of goods (including non physical digital content), they will only infringe this right if the goods do not meet the standards that rational people think are satisfactory, taking into account the situation, including price and any description given."
"For example, manufacturers may cancel support for mobile phones when they launch new models. It will still be available, but there are no security updates, etc. Over time, some application developers may decide to cancel support."
This example is not particularly appropriate. Scott, the initiator of the petition, said in a video response that whether the game has been clear about the server function to consumers is "questionable" because it is "buried in the EULA rules", and the game cover only mentioned that the game "needs to be connected to the Internet".
He said: "Apart from clearly stating when the game will stop operating, any other approach is not enough. Otherwise, most customers will not notice this."
He also pointed out that the so-called "clear and definite" explanation is completely subjective, and said that "the government can completely say, 'No, this is enough, the customer has been told.'"
This response does not mean the end of the petition. The petition will continue until On October 16, if 100000 signatures are obtained, the British authorities will consider a parliamentary debate. In addition to the United Kingdom, players from other countries are also petitioning. The Canadian petition not only won 5400 And also won the support of the legislators.
