Call it an handheld device, but it operates on the same space as PC games and you have reviews on Steam that talk about how well (or not) PC games work on the Steam deck.

I'm working on a PC game during my spare time (admittedly slow with a young baby plus full time employment right now) and it is a point of uncertainty for me right now based on the fact that it impacts people's review scores: Should I get a Steam deck and test my game on it? Perhaps not before the first release, but down the line, probably.

Assuming it passes, it may or may not work as expected in the field, but I think given the weight of the EU and that this is an official channel, odds are good that it will make a meaningful difference.

I think Ross makes a good point that if you cannot even muster 1 millions signatures online to make a meaningful change through official channels, then the battle is lost and we'll just have the gaming industry that we deserve (one where corporate interests trumps ownership rights or game preservation).

But by the looks of things, it seems like we might actually get at least 1 millions optimists in Europe who look up and aspire to something better and I say, good for them. Thank you Europe, show the rest of the world how it is done.

Nah, big names on youtube finally started giving the initiative the attention and visibility it deserves. Thanks Charlie.

Like it or not, odds are good that the initiative will pass now.

And btw, while I agree with Ross' assessment of Pirate Software, ultimately, this is much much bigger than him. He's the one who spearheaded it and we own him big thanks, but ultimately, this is not just Ross' initiative. It has a lot of backers (including politicians in various countries who were needed to start official procedures) and people who put a lot of work into it, plus you know, close to a million signatures now for Europe.

This pot has been brewing for a while. It was a matter of time before someone did something about it. I just didn't know exactly how long we'd have to wait. I was just hoping it would be within my lifetime and when I'm not too old.

DRM-agnostic at best, but the point of this initiative was always about preservation.

Excellent, fingers crossed.

790K. At this rate, it will be done by the end of the week. Still don't think much, if anything will come out of it, but we'll see.

Whether you agree with the initiative or not, you should still sign. Its first goal is to start a legal discussion in hopes of protecting players' purchased games but also not at the expense of developers. I implore you to sign. Thank you.

Especially if the main counter-argument is "I'm not sure it will work". Can't remember last time I was completely, absolutely, positively sure that anything complex (especially when a group of people is involved) would work as anticipated.

If we're at the point where people need complete certainty before they act, especially when the action is not all that costly like something they can sign online, then not much that is meaningful is likely to ever get done.

Happily, thankfully, it seems like we're not there yet in terms of apathy.

Practically all meaningful things in in life will have an uncertain outcome: children, marriage, career and many others. Life is not for the faint of heart. People need to either accept this or pass their turn.

The issue here is that it boils down to whether EU or UK will take it seriously or flussh it down the toilet.

The fact Ross doesn't really have a plan and would rather the goverment work with devs/publishers combounds this. Along with the legal battle that would come from it.

Its not a matter of "uncertain outcome" when it comes to politics/legal matters you need to know before going in, any plan is better then none.

If it's rejected will all the youtubers who suddenly push the signatures doing anything else. Likely not they'll find some other drama to follow or just blame pirate software for everything.

This is not how it works mate: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works_en

You propose a problem, you describe the outcome you want and the specifics get hashed out once the initiative passes (ie, once it collects enough signatures).

Sorry, I will not sign pro-DRM initiatives that will push games more to streaming services where they don't have to provide any ridiculous "EOL plans".

The initiative is not pro-DRM, it is DRM-agnostic, though it aims to put legal constraints on drm to eventually turn it drm-free if the drm is dependent on something that will no longer be maintained, like servers (which is the case for the vast majority of the drm nowadays).

A likely consequence of this is that using drm will become a more complex riskier endeavor (as you will legally be obligated to have a contingency plan when the drm's dependencies are no longer maintained) and therefore, a greater proportion of games will be drm-free from the start as this will become the more cost-efficient less risky solution.

Just using a VPN doesn't work. You need to input a document number that can be verified (like ID card, passport, citizen registration number, or whatever each country allows). So I imagine that if people from outside the EU try to cheat this way, their signatures don't count. If you are an EU citizen living abroad you still have your document, so you can sign.

From your link: Which then outlines a 1 month, 3 month and 6 month process of meetings and hearings. Most importantly: And then it finishes with: (bold emphasis mine)

So this is the process. Just getting enough signatures is not... enough... After that, it needs to go through meetings, you need to present the initiative at a public hearing, and if there is no clear plan during this process, it can be rejected. In the end they may be presented with alternative options that are not legislative at all.

Agreed, there is some uncertainty with the outcome. Still think it is worth it to put a million+ signatures and see what happens.

I can't think of something this pro-consumer happening for the gaming industry at the scope of the EU or larger any other time before. Usually, it is mostly the industry pushing their weight around and gamers eating it because they really want to play this or that game and what will happen some time in the future feels like such an abstract concept right now to them.

It gives me some hope for humanity and more specifically, gamers. Maybe we aren't just a bunch of sheeps afterall.

My only regret about it is that I don't live in the EU so I can't sign it. Go Europeans! Go!

I agree with the general notion, though not all the specifics.

But mostly, I maintain my stance that the customers/consumers get what they deserve. The fact that companies were able to operate on this model and still profit off of it enough for it to become viable only tells me the masses are mostly fine with buying limited lifespan games. And trying to get governments to start meddling in this can quickly become a double edged sword.

Still, it is pretty obvious it will hit the mark now (844K) even without my signing, so we'll see where this goes.

Beyond how you might feel about protecting other customers, I want to legally incentivise execs to make more games under their management drm-free or at least preservable for the future.

And I want to make platform owners like Steam go a step further and make not only integration into their platform easy and convenient, but also a parallel offline integration... or at least force them not to get in the way (which they will try to) when the game development community (who will be incentivised to do so by the law) builds such integrations on top.

Like it or not, drm affects us right here, right now. There are fewer good games here because of drm integrations into platforms like Steam and there are games here with a reduced set of features or fewer updates, because those features or the latest updates are locked into the Steam platform.

I want to make drm integration in games as inconvenient and neutered as possible and this initiative fits the bill. Doesn't go as far as some people here would like, but it is progress.

You want to put some sh*te in your game that will make it unplayable for your legitimate customers who you sold it to in the future? Well, now, you'll have to tip toe and be very careful in order not to get sued over it. GOOD!

Congratulations, UK. You hit the goal. (Again.)
Now try explaining this whole thing to geriatric patricians who haven't touched a computer since the time of the BBC Micro.

Oh, and I might mention that there's a few large companies (Rockstar, Rocksteady, Codemasters, Rare) and their subsidiaries/parent companies who might have a finger to put on the scales.

And that's just in the UK! I imagine Ubisoft will have some words too!