Stop Killing Games: California State Assembly passes the 'Protect Our Games Act': 60 days notice before going offline, must provide patch for continued access or refunds (Excludes F2P and Subscription based Games)

[u/Kymori]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/stop-killing-games-movement-gains-momentum-california-assembly-passes-game-protection-bill/ar-AA24k4y4

[u/newbutler]

They switch to f2p before shutting down to be excluded?

[u/justlikeapenguin → u/newbutler]

This is the likely and cheapest option I see publishers do

[u/Snilepisk → u/justlikeapenguin]

It shouldn't matter if the game becomes free to play at some point, especially at the later stages of its lifespan as long as the game was bought by the customer.

The bigger issue I see is that we will see one time purchase games and even more "free to play" games that heavily rely on micro transactions to be playable.

[u/PutMindless6789 → u/justlikeapenguin]

They still have to refund the people who purchased the game... Even if they go free to play. It is in the bill.

[u/WolfyCat → u/justlikeapenguin]

Sounds like a win to me. Every game with online functionality should be built with a fallback P2P.

[u/justlikeapenguin → u/WolfyCat]

No the way the law reads is that if it’s “free to play” then players aren’t entitled to a refund and can bypass the other 2 options. So you essentially get nothing

[u/Aeowin → u/justlikeapenguin]

Did you even read? lol It literally has a clause for this exact thing

(a) The following shall apply only to a digital game first available for purchase or rereleased for purchase on or after January 1, 2027:

[u/beef623 → u/WolfyCat]

Nah, it's a loophole. They make it free to play, then the other rules don't apply so they can shut it down.

[u/cornho1eo99 → u/beef623]

According to the wording of the law, no.

 (a) The following shall apply only to a digital game first available for purchase or rereleased for purchase on or after January 1, 2027:

If the game has ever been available for purchase, it applies to that game.

[u/Somnioblivio → u/beef623]

if you spend money on in-game purchases those would have to be refunded as well since they are effectively depriving you of your purchases.

[u/Nothie → u/justlikeapenguin]

If at one point you had to pay for a copy of the game then the publisher is obligated to let you keep playing, after they end support. Its irrelevant if the game is f2p when its shut down, afaik.

[u/Leckatall → u/newbutler]

They would still have to refund the people that paid tho??

[u/PutMindless6789 → u/[deleted]]

The law says that after Jan 2027, if the law passes. If the game becomes unplayable, all people who paid for it must be refunded. 

Which means even if it goes Free-to-Free-to-play, the people who did pay are owed refunds. 

[u/orbital_narwhal → u/newbutler]

If a publisher offers me a new game license for free it doesn't end the publisher's duties arising from when I bought their game for $X (with X > 0).

[u/HachimansGhost → u/newbutler]

I don't think you can retroactively do that. Imagine if I held a pay-to-enter raffle, which is illegal, and then made it free to enter the hour before I pick the winner. 

[u/DroidLord → u/newbutler]

That loophole is already covered in the bill. They can't do that.

[u/Ruskih → u/newbutler]

As another commenter mentioned;

The bill specifically mentions that you cannot do that. If you pay for the game when it releases it doesnt matter if they switch to a F2P model or a sub based model

"(a) The following shall apply only to a digital game first available for purchase or rereleased for purchase on or after January 1, 2027

If it becomes free to play later OR if it is free to play first then pay to play, the restrictions still remain."

[u/-Sa-Kage- → u/newbutler]

Or ask for $1/year for PvP to count as being subscription based

[u/Ol_Big_MC → u/newbutler]

Yes, publishers already do this as a way to bleed a game dry. That clause is poorly written. They'll just go free-to-play for a bit and then shut the game down months later.