What a server does for a game
Many games connect to computers run by the publisher or platform. These servers can do a lot of different jobs. They may connect players to each other, check accounts, store progress, deliver downloads and updates, run leaderboards, or even run the game world itself. How much a game depends on them varies a great deal, and that decides what is lost when they are switched off.
A game with a small online feature, such as a leaderboard, may be almost unaffected. A game whose whole world exists on the publisher’s servers cannot be played at all without them.
Why servers get switched off
Companies rarely explain every detail, but several general reasons recur:
- Cost. Servers, staff and support cost money. When few people are playing, keeping a service running may stop making financial sense.
- Age of the technology. Old server software can become hard to maintain or secure, and the systems it ran on may be retired.
- Platform changes. A console’s online service may be closed, ending multiplayer for every game that used it.
- Replacement. A sequel or new version may take over the audience.
- Legal or licensing reasons. Expired licences or disputes can force a service to end.
Shutdowns are usually announced in advance, but the notice period varies, and a company is not always obliged to offer long warning. Players should check a game’s terms and notices to see what is promised.
What stops working
Depending on how the game was built, the effects of a shutdown can include:
- Online multiplayer ends. Matchmaking and online lobbies stop working, so there may be no way to play with others over the internet.
- Accounts and progress disappear. If saves or characters were stored on the server, they may be inaccessible.
- Purchases become unreachable. Items bought inside the game, or downloadable extras, may no longer be available if they were tied to the service.
- Single-player may break. Some single-player games check in with a server at start-up, or require an internet connection. In those cases the game may not launch at all.
- Stores and updates stop. No more fixes, new content or downloads.
On the other hand, some games keep working in part. Features that never needed a server often remain available, and many older games with an online mode still allow offline play. Knowing which category a game falls into before buying is the best protection, although that information is not always clear on store pages.
Different kinds of online games
How a game connects shapes what is possible after a shutdown.
Games that use dedicated servers, run by the publisher, are harder to continue without the publisher’s help, because the server software is not available to players. Games built on peer-to-peer connections, where players’ own machines connect to each other, can sometimes carry on if a basic service for finding other players still works. Some games provide server software that players can run on their own, which allows communities to continue independently.
Large persistent worlds, such as massively multiplayer games, are a special case because the world’s data lives on the operator’s machines. Without access to that data, there is nothing to run.
How fans respond
When an official service ends, communities sometimes try to keep the game going in other ways:
- Private servers. Fans write replacement server software that imitates the original, so players can reconnect. This usually requires reverse engineering, since the original server code is rarely public.
- Patches and community tools. Fans may change the game’s settings to point to a different server.
- Documentation and recordings. Even when a playable version is impossible, players may save footage, screenshots and descriptions of how the game worked.
These efforts raise legal questions. Server software and game code are generally copyrighted, and unofficial servers can conflict with the rights holder’s wishes or with terms of service. Responses from companies vary, from tolerance to takedown requests, and the legal position differs between countries. Such projects are also often incomplete, since the people building them only have the evidence they can observe from outside.
Some publishers have, in certain cases, released a final update that removes the need for servers or hands over server tools, though this is not guaranteed and varies by company.
Why it matters for preservation
Ordinary preservation can copy a disc or cartridge. A live service is harder, because it is not a fixed object. The code on the server, the data on it, and the activity of the players are all part of the experience, and they can vanish together. This is a major theme in why old games are hard to preserve, and it is why museums and archives often focus on documentation for online games, as covered in the article on what video game museums and archives do.
It also connects to ownership. When a game can no longer be bought, as with delisted games, or can no longer connect, what a purchase gives you becomes less clear. Digital distribution makes this more visible than physical media did, since a disc could at least be kept and played offline in many cases.
Practical considerations for players
These points are general, not legal advice:
- Check whether a game needs a constant connection, and whether it has an offline mode.
- Look at how long the publisher says it will support the service, if it says anything.
- Remember that accounts, purchases and saves held online may not be recoverable.
- Local or physical copies tend to last longer than anything that depends on a service continuing.
Nobody can predict how long a given online service will run, so it is sensible to treat online features as something that may end.