In a context where players’ trust in video game companies is at a critical point, recent server closures, such as those of The Crew, Anthem, and New World Aeternum, have exacerbated this distrust. Users are increasingly frustrated by the lack of guarantees regarding the games they love so much. However, the gaming community has begun to take matters into their own hands, showing a significant effort to keep the history and legacy of video games alive, regardless of their initial popularity. Resurrected from the dead A clear […]
In a context where players’ trust in video game companies is at a critical point, recent server closures, such as those of The Crew, Anthem, and New World Aeternum, have exacerbated this distrust. Users are increasingly frustrated by the lack of guarantees regarding the games they love so much. However, the gaming community has started to take action, showing a significant effort to keep the history and legacy of video games alive, regardless of their initial popularity.
Raised from the Dead
A clear example of this initiative is the experiment carried out by YouTuber And799, who has started working on a project to revive Anthem on PC through local servers. In a recent video, he showed how the game can function under these conditions, despite still having significant limitations, such as the inability to access online features, including profile management, which depended on BioWare’s servers. Nevertheless, the gameplay itself runs correctly, giving a glimpse of what a return to life for the title developed by BioWare could be.
However, And799 has been clear in warning that what has been presented is just a first glimpse and that their project, still in the conceptual phase, requires much more work before becoming a complete and functional experience for players. This has emerged shortly after the official closure of Electronic Arts’ servers, highlighting the community’s interest in preserving a game that, although it was not a commercial success, has a dedicated fan base.
The dedication of the players to revive titles like Anthem underscores a wider trend in the world of video games, where preservation becomes a priority, even for those games that did not reach the peak of popularity. Meanwhile, fans are eager to see how this project evolves and whether a definitive version will be achieved that they can enjoy in the future.
The mod The Crew Unlimited has emerged as an alternative to revive Ubisoft’s open-world MMO, whose closure caused a great uproar among the gaming community. This ambitious project aims to “fake” the company’s servers to allow users to enjoy the driving experience without relying on official servers. Completely developed by a group of volunteers and non-profit, The Crew Unlimited allows playing offline as long as you have a legal copy of the game. You won’t close it, we won’t let you The team behind the mod has emphasized […]
The mod The Crew Unlimited has emerged as an alternative to revive Ubisoft’s open-world MMO, whose closure caused a great uproar among the gaming community. This ambitious project aims to “fake” the company’s servers to allow users to enjoy the driving experience without relying on official servers. Completely developed by a group of volunteers and non-profit, The Crew Unlimited allows playing offline as long as you own a legal copy of the game.
You don’t close, we don’t leave you
The team behind the mod has emphasized the importance of obtaining the game from legitimate sources, preferably through Steam. According to the project leader, Whammy4, using illegal files can result in technical errors and malfunctioning of the game. “If you got the game files from suspicious sources, we are not responsible for whether the game works or not”, he stated in a recent interview. Additionally, the team has pointed out that they cannot provide constant assistance to all users, especially those who expect immediate and personalized support.
Statistics indicate that interest in the mod has been limited. On its first day, there were 420 simultaneous players, a number that has decreased to around 300 active users currently. This low number suggests that, despite the efforts of the modding team, the community has not shown much interest in reviving the experience of The Crew. However, the project remains a tribute to the game’s fan base, trying to keep the experience alive without infringing the law.
The announcement of the early closure of Anthem in 2026 has sparked an intense debate within the video game industry, reigniting the Stop Killing Games initiative. This MMORPG, which was launched in 2019 and received largely negative feedback, will extinguish after seven years of existence, leaving players without the possibility of accessing its content once the server is shut down. A failure that they knew was going to happen Mark Darrah, former executive producer of Anthem, has expressed his discontent regarding this situation. During a recent interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Darrah […]
The announcement of the early closure of Anthem in 2026 has sparked intense debate within the video game industry, reigniting the Stop Killing Games initiative. This MMORPG, which was launched in 2019 and received largely negative feedback, will be extinguished after seven years of existence, leaving players without the possibility of accessing its content once the server is shut down.
A failure they knew was going to happen
Mark Darrah, former executive producer of Anthem, has expressed his discontent regarding this situation. During a recent interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Darrah explained that the game could have been designed differently, allowing for its continuity even after the developers closed support. However, he indicated that this would be complicated given the current structures of multiplayer game design.
Darrah made an analogy with toxic waste management, suggesting that, just as society has decided not to allow chemical companies to pollute ecosystems, it should also consider the costs associated with preserving video games. “It’s a cost we must be willing to bear,” he said. As an example, he mentioned Destiny’s peer-to-peer hosting system as a possible solution to keep games operational after their creators withdraw support.
The disappearance of games like Anthem and The Crew not only affects players who have invested time and money, but it is also a blow to developers who see their efforts and creativity vanish. Darrah suggested that, with some compromises in terms of quality and player experience, it would be possible to avoid the definitive closure of these titles, raising questions about the future and sustainability of games in the industry.
The Stop Killing Games movement, initiated by content creator Ross Scott, has gained relevance in the video game industry following Ubisoft’s decision to shut down the servers of The Crew. This movement seeks to question the legality and ethics of publishers who decide to close games that have already been sold to consumers. During a shareholders’ meeting, Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, was asked about the goals of the movement and stated that games are not meant to “last forever.” Statements that go against consumers Guillemot emphasized that “a service is provided, […]
The Stop Killing Games movement, initiated by content creator Ross Scott, has gained relevance in the video game industry following Ubisoft’s decision to shut down the servers of The Crew. This movement seeks to question the legality and ethics of publishers who decide to close games that have already been sold to consumers. During a shareholders’ meeting, Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, was asked about the goals of the movement and stated that games are not meant to “last forever.”
Statements that go against consumers
Guillemot emphasized that “a service is provided, but nothing is set in stone and, at some point, the service may be discontinued.” The CEO stated that the company is working to minimize the impact on players, but the reality is that “support for all games cannot last indefinitely.” These statements come in a context where Ubisoft is facing a lawsuit over the closure of The Crew servers.
The Stop Killing Games movement has also received criticism from the association Video Games Europe, which warns that proposals to keep older games alive could limit developers’ freedom and increase creation costs. This dilemma resonates throughout the industry, as it is not just Ubisoft that is closing titles. BioWare has announced the closure of Anthem for January 2026, and Sony’s Concord was discontinued shortly after its release.
These server shutdowns and the discussion about their legality and ethics reflect a shift in the perception of the value of video games, raising important questions about the relationship between publishers and consumers in a rapidly evolving market.
Ubisoft has shut down the servers of its racing game The Crew, rendering the game unusable even for those who had purchased it. This closure has sparked outrage from the community, which argues that the company could have implemented an offline mode that would allow playing against artificial intelligence. In light of this controversy, Ubisoft has announced that its sequel, The Crew 2, and the upcoming title The Crew Motorfest will include this offline mode, but the criticism has led the company to face potential legal action that could redefine players’ rights in the community […]
Ubisoft has shut down the servers of its racing game The Crew, rendering the game unusable even for those who had purchased it. This closure has sparked outrage within the community, which argues that the company could have implemented an offline mode that would allow playing against artificial intelligence. In light of this controversy, Ubisoft has announced that its sequel, The Crew 2, and the upcoming title The Crew Motorfest will include such an offline mode, but the criticism has led the company to face potential legal action that could redefine players’ rights in the gaming community.
#StopKillingGames is what can ensure that tomorrow you can continue playing your favorite game
In response to this situation, the #StopKillingGames initiative has emerged, driven by Daniel Ondruska, with the aim of protecting the rights of gamers. This proposal seeks to demand that developers implement offline modes in their video games, ensuring that they do not become obsolete once the servers are shut down. To advance this legislation, the project needs to reach one million signatures and gain support from seven countries in the European Union.
As of today, the initiative has collected 756,799 signatures, which means that 243,201 more supports are still needed before July 31 for the European Commission to evaluate the proposal. Recently, prominent figures from the gaming world such as PewDiePie and Gamers Nexus have publicly endorsed the initiative, contributing to a remarkable increase of 200,000 signatures in recent weeks.
It is important to note that the proposal does not require developers to keep servers running indefinitely, but advocates for alternatives that allow games to be “reasonably playable” even after support ceases. The possibility of signing this proposal is open, but it requires an ID, full name, and passing a captcha, emphasizing the community’s need to preserve the integrity of the medium.
Ubisoft is facing growing controversy after the removal of the game The Crew from users’ accounts without prior notice, a move that has been perceived as a disrespect towards consumers. Players are suing the company, arguing that when they purchased the title, they believed they would obtain eternal access rights and not just a limited license. This case highlights the urgent need for clear regulations regarding consumer rights in the digital realm, similar to what happens with physical products. Ubisoft insists that they have made […]
Ubisoft is facing growing controversy after the removal of the game The Crew from users’ accounts without prior notice, a move that has been perceived as a disrespect towards consumers. Players are suing the company, arguing that when they purchased the title, they believed they would obtain eternal access rights and not just a limited license. This case highlights the urgent need for clear regulations regarding consumer rights in the digital realm, similar to what happens with physical products.
Ubisoft insists that they have done everything according to the law
In 2024, Ubisoft shut down the servers for The Crew, which left players who had paid for the game unable to access it. The company claims that consumers were adequately informed that they were purchasing a limited license, not unlimited rights to the content. However, the plaintiffs have accused Ubisoft of violating several laws, including the False Advertising Law and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, alleging that they were misled into believing they had perpetual access to the game.
The court will have to decide whether Ubisoft’s claim that it only sold limited licenses is valid and whether there is a violation of consumer protection laws. The ruling of the trial could set a significant precedent on how property rights are managed in the digital realm and potentially favor consumers, who continue to advocate for greater clarity and rights in their digital purchases.
The outcome of this case is of utmost importance at a time when the video game industry is navigating the still turbulent waters of digitalization. Players expect that laws will eventually support their right to own the digital content they purchase, similar to what happens with physical goods, which could transform the relationship between consumers and developers in the future.
Promising things to your audience and not fulfilling them has a small drawback: the audience, instead of understanding you and returning smiles, gets angry. If you promise that your game will never have microtransactions and introduce them the following year, if you swear that the DLCs will be free and proceed to schedule a paid one… Or if you assure that it will always work online and proceed to shut it down as soon as it goes a little wrong. This is what happened to Ubisoft… and they are facing a trial that won’t be easy for them. The Crew, forever In 2014, Ubisoft launched The […]
Promising things to your audience and not fulfilling them has a small drawback: the audience, instead of understanding you and returning smiles, gets angry. If you promise that your game will never have microtransactions and introduce them the following year, if you swear that the DLCs will be free and proceed to schedule a paid one… Or if you assure that it will always work online and proceed to shut it down as soon as it goes a little wrong. This is what happened to Ubisoft… and it faces a trial where it doesn’t have it easy.
In 2014, Ubisoft released The Crew, an open-world game that required you to always be connected to play, featuring a campaign, multiplayer mode, and a devoted community whose following led to two sequels. However, in April 2024, without consulting the players, they decided to shut down the servers permanently. In other words: no matter if you have it on a disc, you will never be able to play because you were required to be connected to the Internet to do so.
And now, Matthew Cassell and Alan Liu, two people angry with the company, have decided to file a lawsuit as it should be, under the idea that Ubisoft has broken its promise to consumers by telling them they were buying a game when, in reality, they were renting a limited license. It should be noted that without the servers being active, you can’t even play the single-player part, because Ubisoft has decided not to make it available offline, something that, according to them, is “rubbing salt in the wound.”
It is not the only lawsuit that Ubisoft faces for the decision to kill its own game, and now the plaintiffs are waiting for other players to join the legal attack, seeking monetary compensation. As they themselves say: “Imagine you buy a pinball machine and years later you go to play only to find that the flippers, the pinball, and the springs are missing, and the monitor is no longer there. It turns out that the creator of the machine has decided to come to your house, dismantle it, and take away your ability to play the game you bought and thought you owned”.Someone in the company is deeply regretting their decision to pay for the servers right now.
The shutting down of servers rendering games inoperative is a common occurrence, and it will increasingly become so, but this YouTuber wants to prevent it.
News of game servers closing down are becoming increasingly common. There is no month where two or three do not happen, not counting those that are not even announced, closing them without prior notice. Until now, it has been accepted that it was a natural condition of the life of video games. When they are games with any kind of online feature, after a few years, developers close them because there are no longer enough people playing to justify keeping them.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Video games are not just consumer goods and it would be logical for them to remain alive over time for those who continue to be interested in them. Even for those who discover them later than their original release. This is something that a group of players has also thought about.
A man named Ross Scott, who has a channel called Accursed Farms, has posted a 31-minute video on his channel explaining his idea for a campaign against the closure of video game servers. His idea is that, if enough people pressurize, they could make a radical change in how these situations are addressed, by forcing governments to legislate on abandoned video game servers. Specifically, the game he has chosen to start his plan with is one that no one would have expected: The Crew.
The Crew is a car game by Ubisoft, which included role-playing elements in a persistent world of urban racing. Although it was not a great critical success, it achieved a relatively high level of popularity, leading to two expansion packs, as well as two sequels, the latest of which was released on September 14th.
Now the question is, why choose The Crew over any other game? Ross Scott has said that this is mainly due to two reasons: that its server shutdown was planned for April 1st, and the fact that it is a game that cannot be played offline. In other words, once The Crew servers cease to exist, it will literally be a dead game. A game that is impossible to play. Something that, even if Scott did not choose this game specifically because it is from Ubisoft, has a lot to do with the fact that it is.
Ubisoft has had a particularly unpleasant controversy this year, when their subscriptions director, Phillip Tremblay, made some statements that did not sit well. Stating that players should get used to not owning their games, he compared the world of video games to that of movies and music. That the natural progression is towards streaming and digital downloads, and that game ownership should not be something that prevents or slows down this transition.
This is something to be expected from a subscriptions director, but it is also expected that they are aware of how they will alienate the audience. Something that led to a tremendous backlash against Ubisoft, which now also faces a coordinated movement against the closure of one of its games’ servers.
The way to achieve this is through two initiatives. The first one is through The Crew. Taking advantage of the closure of its servers, if you own the game, you must contact Ubisoft and explain to them that you consider this to be a form of planned obsolescence, and include evidence that you own the game. The other one depends on your location in the world. If you are in the USA, Canada, or Australia, you should contact the relevant authorities of the country about this situation. If you are in a country belonging to the European Union, wait for the opening of the European Citizens’ Initiative in which they will request that game servers cannot be shut down, and sign it.
All of this is explained in detail on the website that Scott has opened to coordinate his efforts, named Stop Killing Games. A place you should visit if you want to know all the details of how you can join the movement that is trying to take off.
All of this has a clear purpose, and that is for Stop Killing Games to achieve legislation that ensures four rights for players when games are abandoned. That they remain in a functional state. That they do not require connection to the publisher’s or associated parties’ server. That it also applies to games that have sold microtransactions. And that all of the above cannot be replaced through the end user license agreement. An ambitious purpose, but certainly not impossible.
If Scott and Stop Killing Games will be able to stop companies from killing their games, it’s still up in the air. But it’s clear that it’s something that won’t stop happening if we don’t do something about it. And maybe now is the time to do it.
