The video game industry is undergoing a period of transition and major changes. Against this backdrop, gamers are trying to preserve certain titles by seeking to enforce laws on an international scale. The Stop Killing Games initiative is a prime example of this.
In the United States, the bill aimed at preventing paid games from being abandoned and shut down by their publishers was not passed. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade association for the gaming industry in the U.S., has also shown complete inflexibility regarding the rise of private servers. These servers are generally set up by internet users to host games outside of official servers. It is a way to ensure the preservation of a game.
However, Jennifer Gibbons, the ESA’s vice president, has called these servers “illegal” and insecure. She cites Minecraft as an example.
“They’re illegal. And they are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft. Microsoft, for Minecraft, has gotten a lot of criticism because of those community servers not employing the same safety standards that Microsoft does on their Minecraft servers
In fact, we consider it piracy, we have two pending lawsuits against private servers right now, and the United States trade representative in their Notorious Markets reports on counterfeiting and piracy has named some of these big private servers as a notorious market.”
Later, an ESA spokesperson sent a statement to the VGC website explaining that those very private servers “infringe on the intellectual property rights of game publishers.”
“Private servers that host or distribute copyrighted game content without authorization infringe on the IP rights of game publishers. While publishers may take different approaches, all publishers reserve the right to exercise their rights against IP infringement.
The provision in CA AB 1921 that proposed these servers as a legitimate alternative to keep games running raises concerns about a publisher’s ability to enforce their IP rights.
In addition, private servers operate with no oversight from the publisher and do not uphold the same trust and safety standards. This could create an unsafe environment for players and be counter to the industry’s commitment to fostering safe and fun game play for all players.”
