What with all the layoffs across the games industry to compensate for rampant budgetary overspending in publishing, the reality behind keeping retro games within a paid walled garden is about charging new money for old rope and controlling the market to force gamers to play new games.
The specific quote is that “there would be a significant risk that preserved video games would be used for recreational purposes.”
This explains why people like Jim Ryan hate retro games. They think these older games would cannibalize sales from newer releases, which is uniquely stupid.
The state of this industry really gets to me. I don’t even hardly game anymore. I’ve broken my brain so badly I can’t seem to enjoy them without a constant looming existential dread that I’m failing to do other more important things.
But I learned to code when I was a fucking TODDLER and all I EVER WANTED was to join a studio and make sick ass games. Then the EA Spouses letter was released and I realised that the dream would in actuality be a goddamn nightmare. Then I learned even more, about capitalism and work and life has been one miserable fucking slog without even my old comfort of gaming to soothe my intrusive sense of fucking failure.
Fuck them. Pirate everything. If you take it, it is yours.