Stop Killing Games was doomed. Now It Can't Be Stopped
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Doubt it could hurt. Worst thing I imagine would be the EU strictly defining classes of games - product vs service vs limited service - which might shoehorn game development rather than letting the publishers creatively find new market solutions. But I don't think the AAA gaming industry could get any worse though no matter what they do.
The most "monkeys paw" solution Ross envisioned happening is they merely require a disclaimer on boxes that says "this is a live service game that could go away at any time", which would take care of the consumer rights issue but doesn't solve the actual problem.
I don't understand how you can sell something that can "go away at any time", even under current laws.
The working theory is that everyone in politics is a moron, they rely on the industries telling them what to do, and the industry of course told them it's no big deal.
They're certainly morons, but I think the $$$ from industry have more of an impact than telling them what is going on.
Honestly most of them are paid morons. By this I mean they are paid not to learn and get educated in the subject matter, so they can easily claim stupidity/ignorance
Unfortunately the law was never really settled around this, and for some reason judges tend to treat games as some kind of special magic toys they don't care about, distinct from other well understood products. The UK's response to Ross was basically "this is already protected under consumer law" even though the details in their response letter showed that it isn't protected at all. In the US the courts have ruled that the EULA trumps everything, no matter what it says the company can do and whether or not the customer ever actually agreed to the terms.
THe UK's response was a load of disinfo from a bunch of shitbag garbageholes that everyone outside their jurisdiction should be sending rude emails to that government department pointing that out then ending with goatse as the sign off.
I think the other problem is that law is commonly formed based on long established precedents. And we're only 20-30 years into a time with digital technology and the Internet, where a lot of the conditions that used to be common place are thrown completely out the window.
Some take this as an opportunity to play fast and loose with how they can try to pass bullshit laws that only get through because of how much more "scary" and "dangerous" the Internet is seen as. Others are asleep at the helm and just can't be bothered to give a fuck either way.