A gaming petition to ban the shutdown of multiplayer games in Europe is gaining Momentum with 320k signatures to date. Could Web3 and Serverless Gaming be the Solution?

A European petition aimed at preserving video games and protecting consumer rights is making noise in gaming circles and online forums. The petition, part of the "European Citizens Initiative," has set a goal of gathering one million signatures to push for a law that would prevent publishers from rendering multiplayer games unplayable when they decide to shut down their servers.

One of the petition creators, Ross Scott, expressed his dismay at the current state of gaming on social platform Reddit, stating that it was an assault on human rights and that in any other industry it would be illegal.

With more and more games designed to be played exclusively online, the issue of ownership and server space is exacerbated. The functionality of some of the most popular games today relies heavily on the publisher, titles like Battlefield, Call of Duty and more recently The Crew were taken offline. This leaves players who had paid for these games with nothing to show for their investment.

The proposed law within the petition would require publishers to leave the games in a functional state ever after server support ends, encouraging players to host their own servers.

Does Web3 Gaming hold the answer?

As the petition gathers signatures, the Web3 gaming community is taking notice and offering the potential solution of serverless gaming. CTO of Web3 Gaming Protocol Tashi tells us that "This bill could be the forcing function necessary to push game developers into new and innovative infrastructure strategies."

The over dependence on publishers and the major expense of servers in centralized environments has led to unsustainable development models. Anderson explains that Tashi removes the need for server functions using a new consensus engine which means multiplayer games can be built to enable continued access to games beyond publisher support.

Web3, which leverages blockchain technology, could allow games to operate in a decentralized manner, removing the reliance on a single server or publisher. It could also allow for community-driven hosting solutions, where players can take over the operational aspects of a game once the publisher steps away.

Current State of Web3 Gaming

The Web3 gaming sector has seen a remarkable resurgence in Q2 2024, with investments reaching $1.1 billion—the highest since Q3 2022—marking a 314% increase from the previous quarter, according to the most recent report by the Blockchain Game Alliance.

With blockchain games accounting for 28% of all decentralized app (dapp) activity and drawing in 2.8 million active wallets daily, the sector's significance within the Web3 ecosystem is cemented.

The success of Web3 gaming this year highlights the resilience and expansion of key players in the Web3 gaming space. Games like Alien Worlds, the Sandbox, Upland Pixels and Sweat Economy continue to make huge strides, maintaining robust user bases, while new entrants like Guild of Guardians quickly gained traction following their recent launches.

If Web3 infrastructure protocols like Tashi can team up with publishers and players to offer secure solutions for the future of gaming it could prevent games being killed unless absolutely necessary.

As the petition inches closer to its target, the discussion around Web3 and serverless gaming is heating up, offering a glimpse of a future where players could have greater control and ownership over the games they love.