EU admits it can't save discontinued video games

It’s game over for fans of discontinued video games after the European Union (EU) admitted defeat on Tuesday and said it cannot stop publishers from making them unplayable.

However, it seems that the EU discovered one possible trick and announced some voluntary rules in order to manage the end-of-life period of video games.

All of this happened because of the petition made by more than one million Europeans titled ‘Stop Destroying Videogames’ and asking Brussels to guarantee the availability of old games that are still popular among gamers.

For more than ten years now, hundreds of online games become impossible to play at the discretion of their publishers for any reasons they choose ,either financial or technological.

The gamers had asked the EU to formulate policies that would compel publishers to keep the discontinued games operational in one way or another ,for instance, they could remain available through private servers established by volunteers.

However, the EU Commission responded saying that "at this stage it cannot propose a legal obligation to keep video games playable after they stop being provided commercially" because of already existing intellectual property and copyright laws.

Rights holders have the right of exclusive use of their creation, Brussels pointed out.

In its place, the EU will create a code of conduct with consultation from the industry stakeholders as well as consumers to protect the rights of gamers, among other issues including compensation for whatever the gamers may be owed.

Organisers of the petition told AFP that they were not about to give up, but rather seek to change the ruling through the European Parliament.

"Our current strategy is, with assistance of parliament, get the Digital Fairness Act amended so it covers the matter of banning publishers from deliberately making it impossible for customers to purchase games," they explained.

"The objectives of DFA make our case a perfect fit."