The UK government has confirmed it won’t change established consumer laws to protect against digital game obsolescence, citing existing laws as being adequate for protection. As reported by Eurogamer, the statement was made in response to the Stop Killing Games campaign, which aims to provide more protection to players who invest in games that are later taken down – including live service titles like Concord and MultiVersus.
The campaign takes a stance against video games being sold as goods, but then “designed to be completely unplayable for everyone as soon as support ends.” It was established in the wake of Ubisoft’s Crew shutdowns, and has since continued with a view to encourage authorities to examine the behaviour of developers and publishers, and end the “assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media.”
Stop Killing Games had petitioned the UK government to analyse and/or amend consumer laws relating to sales of games which later go offline, but in a robust response, the government has outlined a belief that current laws remain fair and fit for purpose, particularly given games may be taken offline for a variety of reasons.
“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 statement reads. “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.”
“Video games sellers must comply with existing consumer law – this includes the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) … However, there is no requirement in UK law for software companies to support older versions of their products. Decision-making is for those companies, taking account of commercial and regulatory factors and complying with existing consumer law.”
“There may be occasions where companies make decisions based on the high running costs of maintaining older servers for games with declining user bases.”
Read: Game preservation is difficult work – but we must do it now
As the government outlines, publishers and developers are currently compelling to provide UK consumers with goods of a “satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose and as described by the seller.” But that doesn’t mean they are required to keep games online forever, as it “may be difficult and expensive for businesses to maintain support for old software, particularly if it needs to interact with new technologies.”
Currently, consumers are entitled to a repair or replacement, or some money back where this isn’t possible, if digital content doesn’t meet these quality rights. While these rights are open to interpretation, generally, it appears that removing service and making games unplayable within an unreasonable timeline would fall under this ruling.
As noted, these rights “apply to intangible digital content like a PC game, as well as tangible content like a physical copy of a game.” Under the CRA, UK consumers have up to six years to initiate legal action for a breach of contract under this ruling.
So while the UK government won’t amend its existing rules around consumer law and digital games, it has made clear that in certain circumstances, consumers may still pursue legal action, where digital goods don’t meet the standards outlined by the existing law.
