I know it would be radical, but you could require that they release the server code open source. So it’s not their responsibility to run it, but if the community wants to run it, they can.
Or, if that’s complicated due to licensing etc, they could release a minimal server implementation that maybe doesn’t scale the same way, but at least has the interfaces covered so the community can take it from there. The game could at least still be played.
Yeah, I’m willing to assume the best for W4 at this time. The whole console SDK scene is a legal mess, and keeping the Open Source parts away from it, while making enough dangling hooks to be able to jump in later, sounds ideal.
I think the real test of their resolve would come if they tried to use the foundation to shut down or sabotage a competitor that was in the same “port to console” space. That would be a no no for me, but so long as that doesn’t happen I feel like they’ve got a good balance going.
I don’t know about this particular title, but I feel like Kickstarter games get a bit of a bad rap for taking a long time or not making it to release. But that’s because the whole point of a Kickstarter game is that we, the public, are acting as the publisher. Putting up money in advance, making an investment, hoping for a great game.
And just like with traditional publishers, sometimes games take years and years to make, and some of your investments crumble and don’t make it.
It’s just that we the public rarely hear about a traditionally published game until it’s already been in development for a while. Until it seems likely to succeed. We’re not used to taking pitches while a game studio figures their shit out. And even then, some traditionally published games crash and burn too!
And that’s all ignoring the fact that a bunch of crowdfunded games are typically by greener devs who maybe don’t know how things are done. But what I’m saying is that even the normal game industry has long lead times and has some burn outs, it’s just that normally an entire community hasn’t built up around them, because they haven’t even been announced yet.
I guess is what I’m saying is that publishing is hard and risky, and crowdfunding is collective publishing, not advanced purchasing. That doesn’t immediately mean that anyone who tries and fails is a scam artist. Most of them probably spent that money trying their best for as long as they could, and nothing great came out the other side. That’s just what business ventures look like, unfortunately.