When It Comes To Game Preservation, Can Anything Be Done For Online-Only Games?

[Moonface]

Recently news broke of Crash Bandicoot: On The Run, a F2P mobile game in the runner genre, would be closing down in Feb. 2023. When that date arrives, the game will become entirely unplayable, as it requires a connection to the servers in order to be played.

Obviously, that's a rather small and niche title, but there's large games that use this approach too. Overwatch is entirely online, and when the sequel launched the original game was entirely closed down, leaving nothing from it in a playable state. Even single player games with a multiplayer component will have part of the experience lost forever when the servers are closed for those games, of which I'm sure everyone here can think of at least one example without me giving any.

While there are plenty of ways to preserve old games, whether it be through digital copies, emulation, etc. all of those games are offline experiences. But when it comes to games that rely on a server connection, how can those games be preserved at all when they become unplayable without the server? The best you can do is keep the game files on your PC/mobile/console, but I don't consider that preserving those games for history when you can't play them to see what they were like. I suppose YouTube videos could be made of the gameplay, but I'm sure even in the most popular games with an online element don't have every single thing in them extensively documented and recorded so we'd lack a complete picture of the experience.

So do you think anything can be done when it comes to preserving online-only games, or games that feature an online component that will eventually be turned off?

[Tonberry]

I think that more private servers will start to pop up sooner or later. Nowadays and historically they've only really been available to old shooters and MMOs, but in recent years they've become insanely much more stable and close to the original experience thanks to the wizardry of the ones developing them. And I'm fairly certain that reverse-engineering games, and especially online games since running a server is something a regular person can do nowadays, will only become easier and easier as time progresses, but I guess we'll see in the future.

[Shortie]

It's always a shame to see games like this go down and be completely unplayable because the servers have shut down, especially if you really enjoy the game and it was just the decision of the developer to shut it off. I feel though that the more dedicated players of these games will always find a way to make their own private servers and keep them going somehow. It may take some years but you may notice something pop up. 

[Shagger]

Mobile games shutting down is nothing to cry about. These games are so heavily dependant on microtransactions being built into thier gameplay, that a lot of them become unplayable with out them. I remember watching a video from James Stephanie Sterling on a mobile game that became playable offline, but couldn't be beaten because you would really need purchase some bullshit item to get through it (I tried to find the video, but couldn't, sorry).

 

On PC and console, especially if the game is not FTP, it is more of an issue. I remember them shutting down Gravity Rush's 2 online component after only about a year, but that only disabled parts of that component, the rest of the game is still perfectly playable. It's when games get shut down and become unplayable that this really becomes an issue.

[Kane99]

A lot of online only games can still work. People all over the world set up their own servers to keep their favorite online games alive. A while back I played Battlefield 1942 I think it was, on PC, with a bunch of people online. If there was a dedicated community of gamers who enjoy a game, they will find other ways of keeping it alive. The same people I played with in Battlefield 1942, also kept this Star Wars mod alive and we ended up playing that for an event with a bunch of other people. It was pretty fun. 

But, it depends on the community to keep these old online games alive. 

The sad truth though, is that many online games will be lost to time, and there's not much we can do about it. But for the games that can still survive with private servers, those games may live on for many years to come. 

[killamch89]

Most PC and multi-platform games can have private servers that are around even a decade after an online game has officially been shut down. There are mainly examples of this in games such as Perfect World.

[Empire]

I'm slightly concerned about losing access to my Steam library, but at this point I trust Valve with my games more than I'd trust myself to maintain physical copies. Unlike you, all the old game carts and discs I bought when I was younger are long gone, but I can still play Half-Life from 1998 thanks to Steam. I don't own a single physical copy of a game anymore, but with rare exceptions, I can play most any game I've ever purchased by downloading it.

[Kane99]

4 hours ago, Empire said:

I'm slightly concerned about losing access to my Steam library, but at this point I trust Valve with my games more than I'd trust myself to maintain physical copies. Unlike you, all the old game carts and discs I bought when I was younger are long gone, but I can still play Half-Life from 1998 thanks to Steam. I don't own a single physical copy of a game anymore, but with rare exceptions, I can play most any game I've ever purchased by downloading it.

That is another issue with digital only games and the platforms we use them on. Look at older consoles like the 360 and PS3. Though they are still kind of supported, in that you should be able to download every game you have purchased over your accounts life. But the problem is that at some point these services may one day die. If PlayStation stopped their services, who's to say we'll be able to download those games again, or to even play them. Some games may require you to be online or use the consoles service like PSN or XBL. 

 

[killamch89]

On 12/23/2022 at 11:40 AM, Kane99 said:

That is another issue with digital only games and the platforms we use them on. Look at older consoles like the 360 and PS3. Though they are still kind of supported, in that you should be able to download every game you have purchased over your accounts life. But the problem is that at some point these services may one day die. If PlayStation stopped their services, who's to say we'll be able to download those games again, or to even play them. Some games may require you to be online or use the consoles service like PSN or XBL. 

 

That's a very valid point you're making there and I was going to bring it up. Also look at what Ubisoft did with some of their games as well - it almost seems like piracy is the only way you can keep around some games.

[Kane99]

1 hour ago, killamch89 said:

That's a very valid point you're making there and I was going to bring it up. Also look at what Ubisoft did with some of their games as well - it almost seems like piracy is the only way you can keep around some games.

What did Ubisoft do? 

And that's the sad truth. Piracy is probably what has kept retro games alive, at least when it comes to emulation and game preservation. I think some studios are okay with their games getting preserved and released online. 

I like what Archive does, as they preserve retro PC games, a lot from DOS and older PCs. A lot of those old PC games aren't going to see the time of day again, so preserving them to later play again, is what I hope most companies do. 

[Smokey]

Outside of maybe a private server being hosted by the community of said game, I'm not sure?  I mean i look at games like Phantasy Star Online, which outside of console versions was only online (Blue Burst) and PSO BB is kept alive today thorugh about half a dozen of private servers, used to run one myself. (Kinda wanna bring it back TBH) 

 

 

[killamch89]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:03 PM, Kane99 said:

What did Ubisoft do? 

And that's the sad truth. Piracy is probably what has kept retro games alive, at least when it comes to emulation and game preservation. I think some studios are okay with their games getting preserved and released online. 

I like what Archive does, as they preserve retro PC games, a lot from DOS and older PCs. A lot of those old PC games aren't going to see the time of day again, so preserving them to later play again, is what I hope most companies do. 

They started just randomly shutting down older games and denying access to some of them. No matter what they try to tell us, the digital game is only available until the devs decide to pull the plug.

[Kane99]

On 1/22/2023 at 1:05 PM, killamch89 said:

They started just randomly shutting down older games and denying access to some of them. No matter what they try to tell us, the digital game is only available until the devs decide to pull the plug.

Oh for sure, not all studios will allow their online games to continue. But there are studios that will let their fans go ahead and continue the game via servers and other means. Like I've said in the past, a lot of EA games have a second coming in a way, as fans have kept some of them alive. Like the earlier Battlefield games like Battlefield 2, Battlefield 1942 and so on, are still being played by fans, because they're setting up their own servers and even making their own mods to keep these old games fresh. 

And even some of those games that are shut down, may someday see the light of day because of fans bringing back online modes. Gamers are a wild bunch, and will find ways of keeping many games alive. 

The sad truth though, is that many games will be forgotten to time, some may never be brought back. 

[killamch89]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:03 PM, Kane99 said:

What did Ubisoft do? 

And that's the sad truth. Piracy is probably what has kept retro games alive, at least when it comes to emulation and game preservation. I think some studios are okay with their games getting preserved and released online. 

I like what Archive does, as they preserve retro PC games, a lot from DOS and older PCs. A lot of those old PC games aren't going to see the time of day again, so preserving them to later play again, is what I hope most companies do. 

This is exactly what they did... So the people that bought those games lose all access to said games because Ubisoft shut down the servers.

[Shortie]

On 12/23/2022 at 4:40 PM, Kane99 said:

That is another issue with digital only games and the platforms we use them on. Look at older consoles like the 360 and PS3. Though they are still kind of supported, in that you should be able to download every game you have purchased over your accounts life. But the problem is that at some point these services may one day die. If PlayStation stopped their services, who's to say we'll be able to download those games again, or to even play them. Some games may require you to be online or use the consoles service like PSN or XBL. 

 

This is definitely something that worries me as well. As much as digital is very much the most preferred at least for me now so that I have less games laying around and there is no risk of them becoming damaged and me losing them because of that, there is always the risk of losing digital games as well due to the fact that one day, those servers could close down and you could lose everything. I would hope that never happens but you can never be too sure.