$30 Switch game ceases to work after just 3 years

[NiHaoMike]

https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/30-switch-game-is-unplayable-forever-after-cloud-shutdown-even-in-single
While it's expected that all games that rely on cloud services will eventually stop working unless a workaround to the shut down service is developed, that happening after just 3 years is just ridiculous.

[Stray Electron]

  I highly doubt that it will just be games that get shutdown after only three years.  I suspect that we're going to be seeing a LOT of that in the future with all IoT devices. In fact I would expect to see that happening with a LOT of software driven devices (which is pretty much every electronic device today) even if they're not connected to the IoT. 

[themadhippy]

And sony wonder why people got upset when they announced they were ending  physical game discs

[John B]

And sony wonder why people got upset when they announced they were ending  physical game discs

I'm not sure why that would be the breaking point for most people though. Whether the games are distributed through internet or CD, they still have DRM, phone-home telemetry and the ability to prevent you from using the software.

Games I use receive regular updates so I'm not sure how distributing the data initially via CD/DVD/Blu Ray really helps the consumer. At worst it may be a distraction from the aforementioned digital locks and killswitches.

Internet distribution of game data is OK as long as you have the ability to backup the data and run them offline in future, which you can only go on a trust basis with individual game companies (ie smaller ones).

Even with Steam, which has built up a ton of customer trust, I still view them as a liability, and as such I have spent maybe a few hundred with them over >20 years.

[themadhippy]

'm not sure why that would be the breaking point for most people though. Whether the games are distributed through internet or CD, they still have DRM, phone-home telemetry and the ability to prevent you from using the software.

Games I use receive regular updates so I'm not sure how distributing the data initially via CD/DVD/Blu Ray really helps the consumer. At worst it may be a distraction from the aforementioned digital locks and killswitches.

maybe ive been lucky,but none of game i own for the Xbox requires phoning home to play.Thanks to the usual microsoft issue,forced downloads that refuse to let you play until its download another 35923GB of updates  it stays off the net as much as possible.

[Ranayna]

If i understand this correctly, this game was essentially a subscription to a game streaming service from the get go.
The switch is not powerful enough to render the game, so the game actually runs on a server somewhere, and the image is streamed to the switch.

I am not surprised at all that such a scheme is switched off after that short a period. Especially considering current datacenter costs, providing such a service is expensive.
The article does not say if there was an additional subscription required to play, but if not, i very much doubt that they made much money, if any at all, with that Switch version.

Now, the question is, how was that stated and explained to buyers of the game?
As a customer i can only say: Avoid games like these, if permanent availability is important to you.

[AVGresponding]

The Stop Killing Games initiative is gathering some momentum. The EU parliament may yet side with gamers.

[Ranayna]

No, the stop killing games initiative was utterly denied by the EU parliament.

And let's be real here...
I do play a lot of games. And i mean that, a lot of them.
I also play quite a few games that do need an internet connection, like some old school mmorpgs.

I can only tell potential buyers one thing: Be aware what you buy.
Do at least some research.
And if continued access to a game is important to you, buy the game from a DRM free platform, like GoG.com.

If one game goes, there will be a dozen others nowadays. And even of the fully online games i play(ed), like Path of Exile, there are only a very few MMORPGs that are gone and inaccessible now. And even those have now private servers available in some cases.

Games truly dying is rare nowadays. Also this game is not dead at all. Just the Switch version is. And arguably, this version should never even have existed, if it cannot run locally on the Switch.

[thm_w]

If i understand this correctly, this game was essentially a subscription to a game streaming service from the get go.
The switch is not powerful enough to render the game, so the game actually runs on a server somewhere, and the image is streamed to the switch.

Yes, its an interesting niche case, I didn't even know games like this existed.
I think they could forecast an expected life of the server and write that clearly on the box/page and it would be fair, "Expires Aug 2029".

Seems dumb of them to shut it off months before the sequel was released though. Doing it after might have resulted in less attention.

[tszaboo]

3 years? That's plenty.
Rookie numbers.
Look at sony. They keep on making games with a certain ideology, spend 200 Million on each, and have 20000 buyers with it. And then they shutdown the server in 1 month.
Bungie, the developer of Halo, just released a game that nobody asked for and nobody plays. And they are firing more than half of the studio and likely to shutdown everything.
But you know, at least the executives have their golden parachute, so everything is good.

[AVGresponding]

No, the stop killing games initiative was utterly denied by the EU parliament.

And let's be real here...
I do play a lot of games. And i mean that, a lot of them.
I also play quite a few games that do need an internet connection, like some old school mmorpgs.

I can only tell potential buyers one thing: Be aware what you buy.
Do at least some research.
And if continued access to a game is important to you, buy the game from a DRM free platform, like GoG.com.

If one game goes, there will be a dozen others nowadays. And even of the fully online games i play(ed), like Path of Exile, there are only a very few MMORPGs that are gone and inaccessible now. And even those have now private servers available in some cases.

Games truly dying is rare nowadays. Also this game is not dead at all. Just the Switch version is. And arguably, this version should never even have existed, if it cannot run locally on the Switch.

I hadn't seen the latest update.

It's disappointing, yes, but it's not dead and buried yet.

[Consicur45]

Three years is pretty hard to justify, especially for a game that was sold as a normal single player title. I can understand shutting down online features, but if the game itself becomes completely unplayable because a remote server disappears, then the customer never really owned a usable copy.

For me, the bigger issue is that there is no reason the single player portion couldn't have been patched to work offline before the service was discontinued. Digital games already have enough long term preservation problems without adding this kind of dependency.

[Andy Chee]

Internet distribution of game data is OK as long as you have the ability to backup the data and run them offline in future, which you can only go on a trust basis with individual game companies (ie smaller ones).

Nope.

Xbox 360 is an example of, not an individual game company, but a console manufacturer discontinuing all online services. 

If you relied only on internet distributed games for the Xbox 360, you're screwed.

Internet services for other platforms (Nintendo, Playstation) may also cease in future, which is unacceptable to those who ostensibly paid for a product, rather than a service.

[Ranayna]

Nintendo is notorious for ending support strictly. The online capabilities of the DS, 3DS, Wii and afaik also the Wii U are long gone. AFAIK the DS was the first Nintendo console with an E-Shop.
Nintendo also has the annoying tendency to get you to pay multiple times for the same game. Same game is re-released on the next console? Pay again, often even full price.

Sony has similarly stopped some older online shops afaik. I don't know about the XBox.

Among other reasons, this is a big one why i play on a PC. On a PC there are almost always means to continue playing discontinued games, or even emulate console games that you can't get anymore on the consoles.
PC has had digital distribution as primary distribution channel for ages now.  There it has - in my opinion - shown that that can, and does work. And if you are aware what you buy from what storefront, you will be able to play even if the store and it's online functionality should go defunct.

Of course PC gaming bring it's own can of worms.

[John B]

Even with Steam, which has built up a ton of customer trust, I still view them as a liability, and as such I have spent maybe a few hundred with them over >20 years.

....and just like that the first chinks in the armour of Valve's image appear.

So now in the giant daycare centre known as Australia, you have to provide a credit card (specifically) to view the store pages of mature games. To prove your age supposedly.

I don't have a credit card, and have no interest in getting one. I was interested in getting Cyberpunk 2077 at some point, but I can't even view the page now, despite my Steam account being over 2 decades old.

Isn't the fact that I have used multiple purchase methods over the years the same evidence?

I get that Valve or any other distribution platform isn't the root cause here. It's the unelected parasitic censorship organisation called the E-Safety commission. But I didn't receive any forward notice from Valve at all, nor as far as I'm aware did they give any pushback (ie notifying people may have helped)

[jonovid]

 
as video gamer required online for a single-player mode sucks. 
IMO enshitification of video games is part of late stage capitalism.
the AAA westan video game industry is in crisis. with 4th wave feminism mixed with corporate greed
responsible for most of the game studio job losses. also with a push for digital only games and now
global RAM prices affecting video game hardware sales going forward.
save you old  video game hardware & off-line single-player games on disc or cart as this will get rare & expensive.
going into 2027.  I only buy physical seek ownership of my single-player titles. if its online its MUST be easy to log in , affordable & fun.
looks like the western video game industry has underestimated the size of physical ownership & single-player game market.

[Ranayna]

Even with Steam, which has built up a ton of customer trust, I still view them as a liability, and as such I have spent maybe a few hundred with them over >20 years.

....and just like that the first chinks in the armour of Valve's image appear.

So now in the giant daycare centre known as Australia, you have to provide a credit card (specifically) to view the store pages of mature games. To prove your age supposedly.

I don't have a credit card, and have no interest in getting one. I was interested in getting Cyberpunk 2077 at some point, but I can't even view the page now, despite my Steam account being over 2 decades old.

Isn't the fact that I have used multiple purchase methods over the years the same evidence?

I get that Valve or any other distribution platform isn't the root cause here. It's the unelected parasitic censorship organisation called the E-Safety commission. But I didn't receive any forward notice from Valve at all, nor as far as I'm aware did they give any pushback (ie notifying people may have helped)

We here in Germany are in a similar situation. But that is in large parts simply mandated by law that certain media cannot be made accessible to children. In my opinion Valve is even too lax about that. Hyper-realistic gore and dismemberment is still readily availble after all.
But show too much sex, and the game is invisible from germany. You won't even know it's there, and indeed this has not been communicated at all. If you search for such a game, the error message you get is a condescending "Some results are not shown due to your preferences"... Indeed you can set these filters in the Steam client. But i have not done so, they are not enabled.

In addition to that, they also hide all games in Germany that are not "rated" by an external agency or the developers themselves.

I wish that Valve would offer a way to properly verify my age.
I know they don't want to, because then they would need to verify the age for all 18+ rated games that are currently available though, and not just only for the porn stuff.