Stop Killing Games

The "Stop Killing Games" movement is making progress with
the advancement of California AB 1921, a bill designed to
stop developers from permanently bricking games when they
shut down their servers. 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. Having a software
developer reach into your home and break your own software is
a profound violation of trust.

But as the movement gains momentum, it's becoming clear
that they're aiming at the wrong target.

Right now, advocates are treating game preservation purely
as a consumer rights issue. They're lobbying for laws that
force developers to build offline modes, issue final server
patches, or offer refunds. This is fundamentally treating a
symptom while ig…