GOG’s Managing Director, Maciej Gołębiewski, has opened up about the current state of the gaming industry and the rise of always-online games, noting that it’s essential to discuss preservation and what a proper end-of-life cycle looks like in the current industry.
As more multiplayer games adopt always-online models, players are increasingly facing the reality that servers do not remain online forever. When games fail to meet developer expectations, some are shut down abruptly, even while they still have active communities. EA recently took Anthem’s servers offline seven years after launch, and the company stated in its FAQ that because the game was designed to require an online connection, it is no longer playable.
GOG’s Managing Director Expresses Concern
Digital storefront GOG is very dedicated to game preservation and launched a program in 2024 to preserve classic titles. Now, GOG’s Maciej Gołębiewski is weighing in on what preservation looks like in the modern age of always-online games, telling Eurogamer that he’s afraid there may be fewer games for gamers to play in the future because of the expectation of maintaining servers for decades.
“If we put too many barriers on game creators and what the end-of-life cycle looks like, we might get fewer games,” he said, “because people will be scared of ‘okay now I need to put up the funds to create it, promote it, and then upkeep it for 10 years, 20 years, because the regulator said so’. That might in turn cause there to be fewer cool games for gamers. I don’t have the perfect answer yet, but it’s good that the discussion is taking place.”
In one example of an attempt to address this problem, The Crew 2 recently received an update that introduced a hybrid mode and enabled offline play, hopefully ensuring long-term access to the game. Learn more about that here.
How do you feel about losing access to always-online games when servers shut down for games like Knockout City or Rumbleverse? Sound off in our official Discord server. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
