You are conflating predatory always online DRM with actual live-service architecture. You are entirely right that tacking forced online requirements onto a single-player game is a terrible product choice, but it doesn’t change the underlying reality of ownership.
If a classical painter decides to hang their masterpiece in a pitch-black room, or a sculptor insists their work only be viewed through frosted glass, it makes for a miserable audience experience. But it is undeniably their right to do so. The creator always dictates the terms of engagement. Even if you are playing a completely offline game, you still do not own the code. You only bought a license to execute it. Feel free to go look at the EULA from ANY video game you’ve EVER purchased; you never owned the game, only a license.
Furthermore, demanding that developers just release server binaries treats backend architecture as if it is public property. Backend infrastructure is full of proprietary code, licensed third-party middleware, and security architecture that a studio cannot legally or safely hand over to the public. When a developer chooses to release server tools, that is a generous decision they made regarding their own intellectual labor. You do not have a moral or legal right to demand the keys to a developer’s proprietary backend just because you want to host it yourself. Whether it is a live-service giant or an offline indie game, the creator still gets to choose how their work is distributed.
Anyone who puts their own art on a pedastol deserves the anguish that comes from people enjoying it the “wrong” way.
I say this as someone who’s been making games since their early teens.
Furthermore, as much as they are the norm in gaming, proprietary software licenses where a fucking mistake, and I’d staple my ballsack to the ceiling before I’d license any code I care about with one.
Like fuck Richard Stallman for being a creep, but everything that man has ever said about copyright is completely accurate.
Even if that means not getting cutting edge toolkits.
You claim that creators shouldn’t put their work on a pedestal, yet you are putting your own ideological purity on a massive pedestal. If you are truly running a Stallman-approved, 100% proprietary-free operation, the reality of your published games is going to be incredibly restricted.
Let’s take a look at the EULA and dependency chain of these games you’ve been making since your teens. Unless you are coding in assembly on a custom-built Linux kernel running entirely open-source hardware drivers, your work is fundamentally built on proprietary licenses.
What engine are you using? If it’s Unity or Unreal, you agreed to strict proprietary licenses just to download the executable. Even if you use Godot (which is open-source under the MIT license), it allows for proprietary commercialization, something Stallman actively despises because it permits developers to lock down their derivatives.
Are you using standard audio formats? Proprietary physics middleware? Closed-source anti-cheat or matchmaking APIs? The moment you compile your game using closed-source developer kits (like those required for PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo switch), you are legally bound to enforce proprietary terms on your end-user.
How do you distribute these games? If you sell your games on Steam, Epic, or the App Store, you are forcing your players to agree to restrictive, proprietary EULAs and DRM wrappers just to click the “install” button. Steam’s subscriber agreement is the exact opposite of everything Richard Stallman stands for.
If you are actually distributing your games entirely for free, strictly under a GPL-style copyleft license, and hosting them on a self-owned server for players running purely Free Software operating systems, then congratulations, you have maintained your ideological purity.
But if you charge money for your games on a commercial storefront, use commercial engines, or allow your game to be played on Windows, your players are bound by a web of proprietary licenses that you implicitly approved by choosing those platforms. You can’t champion Stallman’s absolute view on copyright while simultaneously profiting from the proprietary tech stacks that make modern game distribution possible.
You are conflating predatory always online DRM with actual live-service architecture. You are entirely right that tacking forced online requirements onto a single-player game is a terrible product choice, but it doesn’t change the underlying reality of ownership.
If a classical painter decides to hang their masterpiece in a pitch-black room, or a sculptor insists their work only be viewed through frosted glass, it makes for a miserable audience experience. But it is undeniably their right to do so. The creator always dictates the terms of engagement. Even if you are playing a completely offline game, you still do not own the code. You only bought a license to execute it. Feel free to go look at the EULA from ANY video game you’ve EVER purchased; you never owned the game, only a license.
Furthermore, demanding that developers just release server binaries treats backend architecture as if it is public property. Backend infrastructure is full of proprietary code, licensed third-party middleware, and security architecture that a studio cannot legally or safely hand over to the public. When a developer chooses to release server tools, that is a generous decision they made regarding their own intellectual labor. You do not have a moral or legal right to demand the keys to a developer’s proprietary backend just because you want to host it yourself. Whether it is a live-service giant or an offline indie game, the creator still gets to choose how their work is distributed.
Anyone who puts their own art on a pedastol deserves the anguish that comes from people enjoying it the “wrong” way.
I say this as someone who’s been making games since their early teens.
Furthermore, as much as they are the norm in gaming, proprietary software licenses where a fucking mistake, and I’d staple my ballsack to the ceiling before I’d license any code I care about with one.
Like fuck Richard Stallman for being a creep, but everything that man has ever said about copyright is completely accurate.
Even if that means not getting cutting edge toolkits.
You claim that creators shouldn’t put their work on a pedestal, yet you are putting your own ideological purity on a massive pedestal. If you are truly running a Stallman-approved, 100% proprietary-free operation, the reality of your published games is going to be incredibly restricted.
Let’s take a look at the EULA and dependency chain of these games you’ve been making since your teens. Unless you are coding in assembly on a custom-built Linux kernel running entirely open-source hardware drivers, your work is fundamentally built on proprietary licenses.
What engine are you using? If it’s Unity or Unreal, you agreed to strict proprietary licenses just to download the executable. Even if you use Godot (which is open-source under the MIT license), it allows for proprietary commercialization, something Stallman actively despises because it permits developers to lock down their derivatives.
Are you using standard audio formats? Proprietary physics middleware? Closed-source anti-cheat or matchmaking APIs? The moment you compile your game using closed-source developer kits (like those required for PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo switch), you are legally bound to enforce proprietary terms on your end-user.
How do you distribute these games? If you sell your games on Steam, Epic, or the App Store, you are forcing your players to agree to restrictive, proprietary EULAs and DRM wrappers just to click the “install” button. Steam’s subscriber agreement is the exact opposite of everything Richard Stallman stands for.
If you are actually distributing your games entirely for free, strictly under a GPL-style copyleft license, and hosting them on a self-owned server for players running purely Free Software operating systems, then congratulations, you have maintained your ideological purity.
But if you charge money for your games on a commercial storefront, use commercial engines, or allow your game to be played on Windows, your players are bound by a web of proprietary licenses that you implicitly approved by choosing those platforms. You can’t champion Stallman’s absolute view on copyright while simultaneously profiting from the proprietary tech stacks that make modern game distribution possible.