cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/34790413
I really believe it has nothing at all to do with running the servers or their maintenance costs.
It’s about control. It’s a rare sight to see any kind of multiplayer experience that isn’t all about selling shit through MTX. If you could run your own server, you might be able to also give yourself the shit they want to nickel and dime you for without paying, and that would really ruin their model.
Yeah, but the point is if they’ve already shut off their servers and moved on to the next thing, who cares? Just let the dedicated fans and other nuts run their own servers and they can wash their hands of it entirely. They weren’t going to make any money on it after pulling the plug anyway.
If they completely replace a game with its successor and shut the former down, then people can only play the latter: the developers don’t have to compete with themselves, and the publishers have an easier time with their enshittification of their franchise.
The game that kicked off SKG in the first place is an example of this, as far as I’ve heard The Crew was better received than The Crew 2 and 3.
Ah, but then there’s a chance fewer people would buy the next piece of shit designed to extract their money.
Yep, their argument against game preservation is that some people may use the preserved games for *shock* recreation!
That is an idiotic argument.
