Build the game from the outset with an end of life plan in mind, like releasing the server code to the public to let others host it. It's not difficult.
What if the server is just some container for AWS, some virtual machine or a proprietary 3rd party program they can't release? What if the server requires special hardware and a gazillion GB of RAM and an enterprise-grade database server, like I would assume MMORPGs do?
Or what about all the libraries and tools that the server uses that were never meant or licensed for public release?
You assume incorrectly. Private servers for mmos have already been around for decades, even ones where the main game was actively running when the private server launched.
Games aren't super bandwidth heavy, most of the data is on the client machine, the server typically just coordinates locations and such, which is why latency is more important for gaming.
And cancerous games that use invasive anti-cheat still aren't running the majority of the game server side. That is why they have am anticheat scanning your machine. What you're referring to would be closer to "cloud gaming" or "game streaming" services than what mmos do.
Having an mmo run most data server side and then send it to all players would be massively more expensive in bandwidth costs, and have latency issues and load time issues. They do often have server checks to make sure client data makes sense, but servers aren't shoving the whole game to each player continuously, only input elements from other players. This is why you can get things like enemy position desync from lag.
So what? If people cheat they cheat. The people who want to keep playing either don't care or figure out their own anti-cheat detection methods. Nobody is claiming you should be able to play every MMO exactly as it was on launch forever. This is mostly about games with a large single player component, and at least being able to launch multiplayer games and still have some access to the product you bought. (possibly with end-user hacking and support needed to be really usable)
It would be like if John Deere - kings of tractors-as-a-service - sold new self-driving models that were all networked together to coordinate and tend your crops as efficiently as possible, and then after a few years they said "Our AI tractor program had a good run but we've decided to end support. All purchased tractors will cease functioning. We will be sending top men to your farms to destroy the equipment to make sure you don't try to keep using them." Naturally some of the farmers who thought they were buying a product will try to get the corporation to make their tractors drivable offline. But inexplicably uninvolved random lurkers chime in with "C'mon man how can you expect The John Deere Corporation to support you greedy farmers forever? These robo-tractors were specifically designed around satellite network connections. You expect them to loan you a satellite? What about all the proprietary IP that powers the AI on a central server and wasn't licensed for public release? Without that server connection someone could drive their tractor into a crowd of people!"
(I point out the latter not to single out you specifically, but because such comments are constantly brought up by anons when this topic is raised. As if we need to consider the publisher's feelings, or they're afraid action here could put game dev in danger despite us having multiplayer games for decades before GaaS.)
Build the game from the outset with an end of life plan in mind, like releasing the server code to the public to let others host it. It's not difficult.
Isn't it?
What if the server is just some container for AWS, some virtual machine or a proprietary 3rd party program they can't release? What if the server requires special hardware and a gazillion GB of RAM and an enterprise-grade database server, like I would assume MMORPGs do?
Or what about all the libraries and tools that the server uses that were never meant or licensed for public release?
You assume incorrectly. Private servers for mmos have already been around for decades, even ones where the main game was actively running when the private server launched.
Games aren't super bandwidth heavy, most of the data is on the client machine, the server typically just coordinates locations and such, which is why latency is more important for gaming.
This isn't the 90s anymore. Anything that's not calculated server-side will be cheated.
And cancerous games that use invasive anti-cheat still aren't running the majority of the game server side. That is why they have am anticheat scanning your machine. What you're referring to would be closer to "cloud gaming" or "game streaming" services than what mmos do.
Having an mmo run most data server side and then send it to all players would be massively more expensive in bandwidth costs, and have latency issues and load time issues. They do often have server checks to make sure client data makes sense, but servers aren't shoving the whole game to each player continuously, only input elements from other players. This is why you can get things like enemy position desync from lag.
So what? If people cheat they cheat. The people who want to keep playing either don't care or figure out their own anti-cheat detection methods. Nobody is claiming you should be able to play every MMO exactly as it was on launch forever. This is mostly about games with a large single player component, and at least being able to launch multiplayer games and still have some access to the product you bought. (possibly with end-user hacking and support needed to be really usable)
It would be like if John Deere - kings of tractors-as-a-service - sold new self-driving models that were all networked together to coordinate and tend your crops as efficiently as possible, and then after a few years they said "Our AI tractor program had a good run but we've decided to end support. All purchased tractors will cease functioning. We will be sending top men to your farms to destroy the equipment to make sure you don't try to keep using them." Naturally some of the farmers who thought they were buying a product will try to get the corporation to make their tractors drivable offline. But inexplicably uninvolved random lurkers chime in with "C'mon man how can you expect The John Deere Corporation to support you greedy farmers forever? These robo-tractors were specifically designed around satellite network connections. You expect them to loan you a satellite? What about all the proprietary IP that powers the AI on a central server and wasn't licensed for public release? Without that server connection someone could drive their tractor into a crowd of people!"
(I point out the latter not to single out you specifically, but because such comments are constantly brought up by anons when this topic is raised. As if we need to consider the publisher's feelings, or they're afraid action here could put game dev in danger despite us having multiplayer games for decades before GaaS.)
Who cares? Private servers means private ethics enforcement. If I don't want niggers and jews and aim-bots on my server, then I'll IP ban them all.
Forget the server, just send a patch that removes the online requirement that, inexplicably, some single player only games still fucking have.