this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Is there a reason why any new launch shouldn't have a self host option from the start? Company servers can be used for tournaments, events, ranked matchmaking, anti-cheat, cross platform, etc. But why can't self-hosted servers be an option in parallel? Then it would be a non-issue for when the studio servers go eol.
Because people would use the self-hosted servers to route around the company's rent seeking and control, and they might make less money. The compromise here is, if the game would be deleted anyway, they don't even have that much of a justification.
I get that that is how management types think, but Minecraft clearly demonstrates that both can exist side by side very profitably.
Right. It can and has been done before while still turning a profit. People can, did, and still do use self-hosting as a way to play things for free. It has never been the reason for why a game failed financially, though. Most people just don't have the knowledge or the interest to go through the extra steps required to play for free. A lot of them buy things because they genuinely wanted to support the developers.
The abuse is the point. The people in charge spend every day figuring out more ways to take power away from people and give it to the corporation. It's an art and a science at this point.