Ah, Concord — remember that heroic live-service shooter Sony launched with all the confidence of a studio that thought gamers were dying for yet another generic “squad-based experience”? Yeah, that one. The game that lasted about as long as a free trial of PlayStation Plus before Sony pulled the plug and politely offered refunds like a funeral buffet.
Well, apparently the saga was so important that it’s now being discussed in the hallowed halls of the UK Parliament — yes, the same place where people still debate whether broadband is a myth. MPs are suddenly shocked to discover that digital products can stop working when companies turn off servers. Welcome to 2025, Westminster — the cloud isn’t forever, and neither are your subscriptions.
ð§ Lawmakers Discover Games Aren’t “Real Products”
In a thrilling twist of irony, MPs are concerned that when a company sells you an online-only game, it can vanish overnight. This revelation — one the rest of us have known since Anthem, Battleborn, and about fifty other digital corpses — has apparently sparked deep legal soul-searching.
The solution? Not to regulate anything, of course. Instead, the government promised “transparency.” Because nothing says “consumer protection” like a legally-mandated pop-up that says, “This game may cease to exist at any moment. Click ‘I Agree’ to continue.”
ðļ Refunds, Goodwill, and Corporate Amnesia
To Sony’s credit, they did issue refunds. How noble. After charging players for a multiplayer experience no one asked for, shutting it down, and quietly handing back the money, they can now claim moral victory. “See?” they’ll say. “We care!” Right before announcing their next “bold new live-service title” that looks exactly the same, but shinier.
Meanwhile, every other publisher is taking notes. “So if we just refund people when the servers die, that’s legally fine? Cool. Let’s schedule the shutdown date at launch this time.”
ðŠĶ Preservation? Never Heard of It
Gamers and archivists are understandably upset that Concord, like so many others, will soon exist only as a trailer and a folder of memes. But digital preservation has always been gaming’s dirty secret. Why maintain legacy servers when you can sell nostalgia back as a remaster in three years?
ð️ What Parliament Really Proved
Let’s be honest — this wasn’t about Concord. It’s about politicians pretending to understand “the youth” while not knowing what a “live-service” even is. Somewhere in Westminster, someone’s assistant had to explain that no, you can’t “reboot the servers” like you reboot a PC.
The government’s final stance? No new laws needed. Consumers just need to be better informed that their purchases might self-destruct. So basically: “It’s not fraud if we told you first.”
ðŪ Moral of the Story
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Games aren’t bought — they’re rented until the publisher gets bored.
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Refunds are the new customer loyalty.
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“Transparency” is code for “we warned you in 8-point font.”
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And the UK Parliament has officially discovered what every gamer already knows: digital ownership is a polite illusion.
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