I love this thing where buying something has been replaced by buying an alterable, revokable license to access that thing. It lowers costs and adds flexibility for producers, which allows them to save money, and they pass that savings on to me in the form of higher prices and my shit that I paid real fucking money for just disappearing one day. Then they explain that I never really “owned” it despite the fact that they use the word “own” in the marketing material, because it’s also legal to use words that have known definitions in agreements and then later explain that you were actually using an entirely different, secret definition of that word that’s actually the opposite of what you very purposefully implied.
It makes sense to delist games you can’t play in another country due to not being able to make an account so that someone doesn’t buy your game and then go for an automatic refund after finding out they can’t play it, but still a dick move.
Sony's always kind of been uncool like this. Before, all PSN games weren't available on PC, so it didn't affect regions that couldn't register for PSN.
They signed a contract with Sony saying they’d require PSN to play the game. They knew this would be a requirement. It’s not like PSN suddenly isn’t available worldwide. They were fine with the deal until players got upset and now they want out of the deal to save face.
The problem was never the PSN requirement, it was dropping it on people months after launch. No one would be pissed if it had been enforced from day one.
They don’t want out, they want sony to wise the fuck up and get with the program.
All I’m saying is, this isn’t some planned-in-advance good cop bad cop routine.
Agreeing to terms isn’t the same as watching your business partner mismanage the customer base to the point your lunch goes up in flames.
Sony is the publisher. Launching the game in countries that don’t even have PSN is 100% on them. Sony is taking action that makes no fucking sense in context, no matter what Arrowhead agreed to.
I think the reason I’m most glad I’m not a lawyer is bc then I would believe that that tiny text is a meaningful gotcha that some how justifies Sony being stupid. No, it wasn’t required bc you could play without signing in. Tiny words don’t define reality.
Lay with dogs, get flees. I don’t pity Arrowhead for signing an anti-consumer contract with an anti-consumer company for money and then realized it hurt their image with consumers. This is the consequences of actions. Maybe their next game will be self published. That was always an option. They didn’t pick that. They picked this.
Yes, you’re right. Arrowhead aren’t playing good cop. They deeply regret their decision. As they should. They ruined an amazing game by giving control of it over to Sony. I still agree with the OP. Fuck Arrowhead for ruining an awesome game by giving Sony control.
Your approach to discussion is similar to that of a wrecking ball.
Next time, just add a single sentence along the lines of “still glad seeing everyone involved anti-consumer bullshit crash and burn”.
That’s still a valid take. But you’re not gonna see the improvement in the industry we all want realized without caring about the nuances, or acknowledging how and when most people actually care.
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