Ownership of Digital Games: When the Servers Come Down

            I love my game collection.  All told, I’ve probably got over 300 game discs, cartridges, and the like.  Even more if you think about my collection of digital games.  But…are the games I “own” online really mine?  For that matter, digital distribution brings up a whole slew of issues that I think need to be addressed, especially in light of the idea that companies are no longer selling games but “licenses” to play games.  This may be a newsflash to some game companies…but that is one of the worst ways to market your games.

            I’ve grown to be quite fond of Steam and Good Old Games or GOG, in recent years and I think digital distribution can do wonders for bringing games to the masses.  That said…well, let me run a quick scenario by you.  Picture this: It’s long after society has ended and you’re holed up inside a tiny shack that’s about to be overrun by mutated humans and all you’ve got with you is a tiny generator, a TV, and enough gasoline for an hour of power.  If you still had a physical copy of Super Mario Bros and an NES, you could still get in one or two last speed runs before the end.  If you’d only bought digital games though, you’d be screwed, since the servers would have all collapsed.  This leads me to my first major issue with digital distribution services like Steam and GOG.  Server issues.

The best in digital distribution of video games

 I’m not referring to the kind of server issues such as overcrowding with Diablo 3 or cheaters on Battlefield 3.  I’m actually referring to the fact that when an online game server is taken down because it’s no longer profitable or active enough to make money the entire game becomes unplayable and all the hours and investment players have put in amounts to naught.  Ironically, this is an issue I have already discussed at Suite101, which can be found here.  So, rather than repeating myself, I’ve decided to delve into a deeper issue with severs that actually worries me a great deal and which not many people have addressed.  The servers that handle digital distribution.

Annoying, but not what we're talking about this time

 I love Steam and I’m not the only one.  It’s a platform for indie game developers to make a tidy profit off their work without having to bend over backward for corporate approval.  The frequent Steam sales are great for promoting lesser known games and DLC.  The ability for the service to remember games also helps with computer space as players can always delete a game they’ve beaten then re-download it later if they’re short on disc space.  Steam is a fantastic service that caters to its customers and has earned their loyalty because of it.  However…what happens when the servers go down?

I may be a big proponent of Steam, but I’m not so arrogant as to say that Valve and Steam will be around forever.  Someday they may go bankrupt, retire their service, or become subsumed by a larger corporation that wants to axe the gaming division.  All of these are real possibilities.  Or worse yet, there could be an act of cyber terrorism or a massive power failure which wipes out their servers.  So…if that ever occurs, what happens to the hundreds, nay, thousands of dollars that Steam patrons may have put into the service?  How will Valve know who has bought what?  How can people redeem their games if they’re no longer remembered?  And since a lot of Steam games require a connection to the Steam servers to update or play, this could leave people who still have games downloaded unable to play games they’ve paid for.  It’s a real issue that very few people seem to have addressed at length.  It covers the idea of owning a digital game and just what rights we have as consumers.

Well, at least Steam makes you FEEL like you own your digital games...

 I’m not trying to say Valve is at fault with this or that they’re unprepared.  Knowing Valve and their record of customer service, they probably have backup files to know which users bought what and will reimburse them if any calamity happens.  However…Steam isn’t the only game in town for digital distribution and re-downloadable titles.  EA’s Origin, GOG, Nintendo’s virtual console, the PSN, and dozens of other smaller stores employ a similar model to Steam’s.  Are they prepared for the worst?

Society keeps pushing towards digital distribution and live streaming of almost all our media and people like David Jaffe have gone on record stating that within the next ten years, video game consoles will be obsolete and all games will be streamed through computers or televisions.  While this does, on paper, seem like a great thing, I question the server issues.  Digital distribution means cheaper games, more space, and the possibility of no longer needing top of the line computers or consoles to actually play games.  It could revolutionize the gaming world.  But what happens when the servers crash?  Will we lose everything?  Will we be reimbursed?  These are real issues that some companies need to think about.

Behold digital distribution.  The future of gaming.

             I’m not saying that people need to be sent out an annual ticket with all the games they’ve bought up to that point so that they can redeem it in case of a disaster, as that could lead to dishonest practices amongst consumers, but there are alternatives.  Linking up these digital distribution sites to email, facebook, twitter, or the like could guarantee that there are multiple records on file for emergencies.  There is also some merit in old fashioned printed records which are not in danger of being destroyed by cyber terrorism or the like. 

These issues I’m bringing up will crop up sooner or later on a massive scale, such as the disaster Sony faced when they were hacked by Anonymous, and companies need to be prepared.  Some publishers might see such an incident as free money, as thousands if not millions of players would have to re-buy their favorite games.  But if they don’t feel like they own them, they probably won’t buy them again.  And worse, they won’t trust the publisher enough to buy any of their future games.  This will hurt the industry as a whole and in order to advance into the age of digital distribution, publishers and developers need to stop looking at games as “theirs” which they are selling the license to use.  Because if they don’t they’re not going to scare off pirates, win new customers, or retain their consumer base.  They’re going to create a new generation of people who distrust the publisher and feel it is their right to pirate a game simply because they’re going to be screwed out of their money eventually.

Yeah, EA?  Being evil and corporate is all well and good, but if you're not gonna value you your customers, you won't survive.

            Before I finish up my thoughts on this topic, I’d like to explore one more issue in relationship to digital ownership.  You see, most people view games that they’ve paid for as theirs and feel justified in having access to them at all times and control over how they are used.  So, when someone throws in the towel with gaming, they don’t usually don’t want to be left with a bunch of games they’ll never play.  In that situation, what can people do with their games?”  Well, if they have a storage room of game cartridges or discs, they can sell them online, give them to friends, bequeath them to their children, etc.  So…what happens with the digital games someone “owns” if they decide they want to quit gaming?  Can they resell them?  Probably not.  Get trade in credit towards the Steam store or its equivalent?  Again, also probably not since digital copies are able to be made with the press of a button rather than having to deal with the manufacturing process which is expensive and has made used games such an appealing proposition.  This hurts the idea of ownership, perhaps even more so than server issues, even if it might be far less widespread.

            This issue will inevitably need to be resolved, since not all gamers stay gamers until the day they die.  And many will want to find a way to deal with all their games that they have paid for when the time to stop playing rolls around.  Companies who can figure out a solution to this will likely hold customers in the palm of their hand and foster a fiercely loyal consumer base.  For example, if a grandfather decides to close out his Steam account for good and asks that his games be distributed to his family and friends, Steam should comply since at one point, the games were paid for and if he closes his account he can’t play them anymore anyway.  Likewise, if a person decides they want to sell the games they have stored on Steam, Steam should let them.  It can take a portion of the profit, certainly, but it would be a way to give more control to the consumers, and give more money back to gamers who have grown tired of gaming or have little money to begin with.

Gamers won't be gamers forever.  What happens when Grandma wants to put the wiimote down?

 Control is the name of the game.  And I have a feeling that Valve will be leading the charge in this area.  It’s similar to other gamers who don’t want to pay for a re-release of a game they already own simply because their new console isn’t backwards compatible.  They want to save money and have control over their own games.  Resolving the issues of ownership alongside the server issues will be the biggest hurdle, I believe, to the oncoming age of digital distribution.  And this issue can’t be swept under the rug or hidden within a service agreement for the digital service.  If companies start doing that, gamers will take notice and they will abandon the service in droves.

            The advent of digital distribution was slow in coming over the world, but it has become far more prolific in recent years and new services are being created everyday to offer digital games and movies that can be sold to people everywhere.  However, issues like those I’ve mentioned above are in the long term and don’t seem to be addressed by mainstream gaming.  The idea that someday Steam could go down and I could lose all my games terrifies me.  And the thought that someday I might want to bequeath my games to my kids from Steam but that they won’t just to squeeze a few extra dollars out of me(which I doubt Steam would do, but just saying) enrages me.  These kinds of down the line issues need to be addressed sooner rather than later, as gamers are getting older and digital distribution is becoming more prevalent by the day.  I’m not going to say that none of these issues have been tackled yet, as I don’t know what goes on in Valve, EA, GOG, or the like behind closes doors, but it seems like its received scant publication, so…this is my contribution to the server issue and the idea of owning a digital game.  I hope it gives people both inside and outside the industry something to think about.

Once again, the images used here were collected around the internet.  If anyone is offended or dissatisfied with how I have used their images, please let me know and I will take them down immediately.