Why do they worry when they a) no longer sell them b) don’t support them?
Because if good games from a decade ago are freely available, they can’t shove a new overexploiting live service game down our throats when it pales in comparison to the entertainment that’s available for free.
They can only sell less for more, by taking the previous option off the table.
The same reason a movie theater owner can’t show Pee Wee’s Big Adventure every weekend. Value is derived from exclusivity. Exercising your “rights” to a work means preventing anyone from having access to the work unless you are paid when and how you want.
Capitalism manufactures scarcity. Even when we have plenty, capitalism must create limits on the sharing of free resources
This is what I keep telling people, we already live in a post-scarcity world… We just can’t reap the benefits because Capitalism forces us to pretend we don’t.
I would be all in favor of “Use it or lose it” rights to Digital Distribution… Don’t offer a reasonable way to access a product? Can’t bitch when Abandonware sites give it away for nothing.
There is an expiration date for IP. But I have little idea what type it goes under.
I just assume the reason old, barely functional games get the odd 1.3kb update every once in a blue moon is to “refresh” that expiration date.
There’s going to be a free online arcade whether game companies allow an online library or not. Companies can spend billions of dollars taking down emulators and unauthorized game distributors and ways to make playing games in unauthorized ways harder, but it will always be a game of whack a mole. Game companies should focus their time and resources on making legacy titles accessible, whether that means creating a deal with online libraries or selling the files directly to the consumer for a reduced cost. At the end of the day, game companies spend more money trying to prevent people from playing legacy titles than they make on the legacy titles, so there is no benefit to the consumer or the company.
I think there’s a fear by companies that a rerelease or remaster won’t make money if the original is available for free, but the reality is that people will happily buy a remaster or remake if it’s good despite already having the original game.
