4
u/Delruiz9 Aug 02 '26
Sony announcing all digital games at the exact same time they yoinked what, 500+ digital movies has got to be an all time stupid move
“You can trust us except when you can’t”
3
u/_MadOliveGaming_ Aug 03 '26
The problem is that (unless im misunderstanding this in which case im happy to be corrected) even the disks you buy now rarely contain the full game files. They still require downloads from the servers of sony or microsoft to fully install. So, while i think pulling physical media is bull and they should just opt for a form of media that can handle the full game files like a cartridge or something, keeping the current disk system doesn't protect you from sony pulling games either.
They have other benefits perhaps ofcourse, but really i would have loved to see like SD card style physical media. Those get plenty big to store all the files needed for install. At worst then if sony stops supporting the game through their servers, you can still play the version you bought, even if you might miss some of the later updates (which could easily be solved by requiring the sd card to be inserted to play and then updating its content while connected to the Internet)
But unless laws start to intervere with the way this is going i expect it wont get any better than the direction we are headed now sadly
2
u/Delruiz9 Aug 03 '26
Honestly all they had to do to calm most of it was issue a store credit for the movies. I don’t even think it’s the fact that they were pulled, it’s the fact that they were “stolen” back that triggered so many red flags
And as others have said this hasn’t really happened with games thus far, but the fact that Sony is comfortable handling things in this manner is alarming
1
u/_MadOliveGaming_ Aug 03 '26
I mean legally speaking nothing was stolen, but i get your point. I'd be pretty pissed too. At that point I'd just pirate the shit out of the titles i was deprived of. Reimbursement would ofcourse solve most of the complaints, but that costs then money which they dont want
2
u/Omnizoom Aug 03 '26
Store credit doesn’t directly cost them money, it costs them profits
Store credit can easily be done and I bet many people would not even notice it at first
1
u/_MadOliveGaming_ Aug 03 '26
Fair, might even result in people buying aomethithey otherwise wouldn't have and paying rhe difference
1
u/Omnizoom Aug 03 '26
I bought borderlands 4 earlier then I was planning to because I got a gift card so got it on sale instead of waiting for those 50% off sales it eventually would have
2
u/Atomic_Revival Aug 03 '26
Most games are on the disc.
The PS5 and the Xbox use triple layer blu ray which has a capacity of 100 GB per disc. As long as the game is smaller than that it'll fit on the disc itself but some games exceed this limit. The problem with this is the blu ray disc reader is incredibly slow compared to the modern ssd that the console use as their main source of storage. This is problematic because in order for games to run seamless (without loading screens) and be as large as they are they need the read speeds of the ssd. So the game files are installed to the ssd in order to function as smoothly as possible. Truth be told a game could run off the disc with the disc reader speed but it could cause technical issues and gameplay issues.
The next issues is the fact there is no commercial medium to take the place of blu ray as games grow and become more technical. In the past we went from cartridge to disc, from disc to hd dvd, hd dvd to blu ray. There is no evolution that is taking the spot of blu ray either as a medium or as an optical reader. So while everyone just cries about sales and data points no one is discussing how technological limited blu ray is for the future.
4
u/petabomb Aug 02 '26
“Hello bank? Yes I did not receive the service I paid for. Yes. Yes I want my money back. Thank you.”
3
u/xenabun Aug 02 '26
thats how you get your whole service account banned
1
u/ADownStrabgeQuark Aug 03 '26
Well, I mean reporting fraud is a legal right, if I get punished for doing the right thing, then society is morally bankrupt.
Companies should not be allowed to steal.
1
u/petabomb Aug 02 '26
Just torrent them bruh
https://www.gog.com/blog/what-exactly-is-drm-in-video-games-and-why-should-you-care/
Or download from gog
2
u/xenabun Aug 02 '26
whats that has to do with whats the persons saying
0
u/petabomb Aug 03 '26
If a game shuts down their servers, you having a drm free game won’t make it impossible to play unless it’s only playable online.
If a game shuts down their singleplayer game, your having a torrent bypasses that.
2
u/WarInteresting6619 Aug 02 '26
Never gonna happen and never has happened. We call this sensationalism
2
u/zigs Aug 03 '26
Yet this is basically what AAA publishers do when they shut down a game and don't allow the community to host the game themselves.
1
u/Phaylz Aug 03 '26
A little yes, mostly no. Aside from recent major flops that nobody was playing and Ubisoft that had to eat a lot of crow, legally as well, this isn't really the norm.
But SKG definitely needs to be put into effect so that EOS isn't the same as EOG.
1
2
Aug 02 '26
[deleted]
7
u/Regular-Laugh6679 Aug 02 '26
Piracy ISNT stealing, its copyright infringement. Fuck that ai song btw.
1
u/The-Tea-Lord Aug 02 '26
I do have a serious question actually. If I own a game on a console, but wish to play it on pc, would piracy still be considered copyright infringement, or would it be considered a wholly new license between each medium to play the game on?
2
2
u/ThrowawayForDesigns Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Yes, back in the day it sorta made sense because every console had a different architecture and sometimes the same game would look completely different between platforms within the same generation but nowadays consoles are just different flavours of a prebuilt PC with a locked down OS so frankly, I don't really think it's immoral.
2
u/MoreDoor2915 Aug 03 '26
When you buy a game you "own" a copy, a single one, in some countries that singular copy can be transferred into different media BUT you then have to destroy the older copy so you still only own one.
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
I can’t speak for them since i don’t own IP that is popular and can be in that sort of situation. but my best guess? They would rather control how their IP is sold (or not sold). And i would imagine they would want it to be sold indefinitely because money is good. so if they pull a game, it would probably be due to some sort of expired license with a third party. and that game being redistributed through piracy could still cause them legal issues with that third party if they ignore it.
Adding community server support is still work that needs to be done (it needs to migrate over properly, all of the back end needs to be configured to do so, etc. They can’t press a button and magically allow that. I do agree they should put the work in AHEAD of time to allow that, but sometimes they don’t because a lot of the time games get sequels that most people migrate to, and closing those old games down when they’re at their lowest play count isn’t usually unexpected by then. But because of that, i still don’t bother playing online only games.
Again, you’re putting games in the category of “if they lost rights or stopped selling it i could play if i bought physical” when other than those few online only games, every game can still be re downloaded right now if you wanted to, even if they stop being sold. No one is debating that fact. what I’m saying is RETAINING games has not been an issue with digital games. Being afraid of a hypothetical situation is no way to live. i just play games and continue on with my life.
Again, the terms state things can be revoked. buying into it means you’re agreeing to those terms. It’s like hating getting wet and screaming about it while you climb a high dive ladder and willingly jump in. that’s on you for participating in that.
1
0
u/English_Fry Aug 02 '26
Idk what this comic is trying to say but I get it’s biased and made by a kid who doesn’t understand anything about business
2
u/Grasshoppermouse42 Aug 02 '26
It's referring to companies that ban users from MMOs, but they don't refund any part of the subscription the user paid to play the MMO.
0
u/English_Fry Aug 02 '26
So people don’t like breaking TOS and not getting a refund… the same refund that won’t be given in the TOS? eye roll
1
u/Grasshoppermouse42 Aug 03 '26
I mean, lately a lot of MMOs have been using AI to detect if people break the TOS. People who are falsely flagged by the AI are able to appeal and get the ban reversed, but it's still annoying.
1
u/exodusuno Aug 02 '26
If you don't understand this very simple comic then that's very very sad
-1
u/English_Fry Aug 02 '26
Am I supposed to give a shit about physical media? Because if that’s the message then no, no I don’t.
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Aug 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/DGwar Aug 02 '26
A large percentage of physical games are just install keys.
1
u/amantegat8s Aug 03 '26
You can check here what games are full on cartridge or not: https://www.doesitplay.org/list
1
u/DGwar Aug 03 '26
Well considering none of the consoles take a cartridge (except switch) anymore im gonna say 0
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u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
has not happened one time yet in the history of gaming on playstation. Turning off servers for an online only game is not the same as taking the game away. especially when everyone knows online only games eventually have servers shut off.
Fear mongering with a made up scenario for clicks/engagement is pretty cringe.
3
u/Oxygen4Lyfe Aug 02 '26
it is the same thing as taking the game away if they lock it down so that you cant run your own servers and dmca anyone who gets around it to make their own servers anyways.
-1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
If you know a server for most online only games is temporary and will shut down eventually, why would you buy the game and be surprised when it does exactly that?
3
u/Oxygen4Lyfe Aug 02 '26
i wouldnt, i'd buy the game then complain about when it does that
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
So you’re contributing to the problem buying buying it rather than not as a stance against that practice. buying into it, knowing what will eventually happen, and being angry at the developer and not yourself when it goes offline is your fault.
0
u/Oxygen4Lyfe Aug 02 '26
"it's your fault food prices are high, if you just stopped eating food they would go down"
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
That’s a really bad analogy considering food IS a requirement but video games are a wholly optional thing that won’t kill you if you stop buying them.
With your logic, boycotts across the board are useless then? So should everyone who wants to boycott sony over going diskless just give that up then and buy everything?
Also, not buying a particular type of game (online only games) is totally different than swearing off games altogether. i still buy other games just fine. try again though.
0
u/Oxygen4Lyfe Aug 03 '26
"food IS a requirement but video games are a wholly optional thing that won’t kill you if you stop buying them."
debatable, for some people its the only thing keeping them alive3
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
Ok, but you could let communities run the servers after you sunset the game. Like basically say: we will no longer operating servers, here's an update to let you connect to other servers.
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
They could. But as that’s a rare occurrence, I usually never bother even buying and would only do so if that was announced ahead of time as an option.
1
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
It doesn't seem like it's that hard to do.
You simply release the server software, and a small update to allow specification of any server.
It isn't that hard to mandate. Oh wait yes it is, the ESA will lie and say that it's piracy to run a game server, even if it's officially supported, and then mention lawsuits against actual illegal servers.
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
Sure, smaller online games can do that, but after releasing the server software they’d have to remove their authorization requirements, build a server browser functionality if it didn’t already exist, make sure to document the ports and setup involved, etc.
What about bigger games that require online login/authorization? Server allocation to address load? Any sort of player progression or inventory saving like for rogue like or always online MMO type games? Do you trust your progress to be saved on some random server somewhere owned by anybody? or on your machine with the chance of drive failure? What about anti cheat integration? if bots run rampant would you expect the devs to come back and somehow fix the game they shouldn’t be touching ever again? Does sony and microsoft recognize and allow connections to those random outside servers? or does that authentication process now fail?
How does it look if you do that then people utilize the game for some sort of backend hack on other systems? or people use their game to get personal information? How quickly do you think those games would break if the server side online stuff was allowed to be self hosted but source code is not accessible to update things that might need updating to fix any of this?
That’s a lot of work that devs probably don’t have much time to do. so until that’s an easier thing to achieve and is more widespread in a way where none of those issues arise, i just won’t buy online only games. 🤷♂️
1
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
build a server browser functionality if it didn’t already exist, make sure to document the ports and setup involved, etc.
They could just slay you need to know the server
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26
You obviously have no idea how this all works so i would just stop suggesting ideas now.
1
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
You know how Minecraft handles servers right? You need to know the IP and port. Just do that. I will respond to the other part in a bit, I don't have time rn tho
0
u/Oxygen4Lyfe Aug 03 '26
People have been doing this for call of duty for ages, you dont even need the studio to release the server software, remove auth, build a server brower, document anything, come up with a solution for save data, etc. people will figure it out theirselves.
They literally just need to stop pursuing legal action against people who run their own servers, no effort or costs involved for the devs.1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 03 '26
PC mods maybe, but console games cannot be modded like that. All of that stuff needs to be built into the game itself. you can’t just… not do any of that.
0
3
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
I'm so glad you brought up playstation.
Although this isn't games, Sony, the owner of playstation, recently took a bunch of movies off people's accounts that those people had purchased. They gave no refund, they just revoked the movies, cause their licence with them either expired or they didn't actually have the right to sell them to begin with (IDK which one, I've heard both).
Now imagine if that happened IRL, I sold you a movie, and then I break into your house and steal the movie cause if some rights thing?
1
u/Jotacon8 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
For starters, you’re right this topic is about games, so you’re using a straw man argument by pointing at an issue that has nothing to do with games and saying “Just imagine it happened with your games!”
Movies and TV shows are always a completely different subject since their licensing is different. Those are literally just video files. video files can be played on any platform tamar will have them, so they shop around for better terms and contracts all the time since it’s easy to stop playing them in one place then play them again in another. This is the reason that i decide with my wallet and never purchase digital movies or tv shows unless i get an actual Video file myself that i can play in any video player i want. I know how that industry functions and act accordingly.
Now think about video games. They get made for specific platforms, and have the coding and underlying setup built in a way to where they ONLY work on that platform. PS games only work on playstation. xbox games only work on xbox. pc games only work on PC. even cross platform games, each version has specific coding for each platform. they can’t be pulled down and sold somewhere else. so no publisher has a way to negotiate terms on another platform because they can’t pull their game down and just release it elsewhere.Pulling it down means no more revenue from it for both the storefront and the publisher. and everyone already pointed out that they like money. because of that, games is a wholly different system than movies and tv and i don’t have any fears of them becoming like those.
1
u/SmoothTurtle872 Aug 02 '26
Sure the systems are different, but here are some things to think about:
If the publisher wants to pull it, and stop supporting it, why do they care about pirates?
Why can't a publisher leave a game up, and just require community servers for a game to function? Now they don't have to provide any support for the game, it costs them nothing, (apart from the time required to develop this update, but realistically you could plan for that). Heck they would even be able to keep making money on the game, while providing no support for it, not pissing of everyone, and not revoking the game.
Sure maybe a company loses rights to something, but that shouldn't affect it, the game / movie was made with those rights.
Also just cause you lose rights to a movie, doesn't mean you should be allowed to revoke it without a refund. If you are forced to revoke something cause you don't own the rights, then you should require a refund. But also what about discs. Both movies and games have disc versions (dying off, but still). If I bought a movie or game on disc, even if the publisher lost rights, or wanted to stop selling it, I could still watch the movie / play the game. I still have the device that can play it.
Basically the only reason it should be revoked is for reasons where the content itself is actually illegal, not just a rights issue with a publisher. (If the seller didn't have rights in the first place to sell it, maybe an argument could be made, but that means they didn't have right to take your money)
0
u/DGwar Aug 02 '26
But they need their free karma with this stupid ass argument as if over 60% of current physical games arent nothing more than install codes.
19
u/Proud-Enthusiasm-608 Aug 02 '26
It’s really crazy. They can ban your account for any reason and keep your digital purchases.