Shattered Digital Landscapes – Should We Care?

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Quick Links

• What Are Game Servers?
• Which Games Run Using a Server?
• How Long Do Game Servers Last?
• What Happens When Servers Shut Down?

Game servers for two much-loved games recently shut down, destroying millions of user-created levels. Why did this happen and is there anything you can do about it?

What Are Game Servers?

A game server is a specialized computer that provides gaming services over the internet. They are mainly used for two purposes:

• To share data among several players, enabling multiplayer games.
• To provide games that can be played via the cloud rather than a local copy.

Game servers have many benefits, but their drawback is that you need them to keep playing. Problems—from hardware failures to network issues—can cause servers to become temporarily unavailable, and that means no gameplay.

Worse, servers can be shut down permanently if their owners don’t see enough value in keeping them running. This happened in April 2024 with two much-loved platforming games losing their user-generated levels. Game servers that hosted player-made levels for both Super Mario Maker (Wii U, 3DS) and LittleBigPlanet 3 (PlayStation 3 and 4) were closed forever.

Which Games Run Using a Server?

Epic Games

Some of the biggest and most recognizable multiplayer games run on servers, including:

• Minecraft
• Fortnite
• PUBG: Battlegrounds
• Among Us

What’s more, many of these games let you create or use private servers, either for local multiplayer gameplay or simply as an alternative to the official servers. You canmake your own Minecraft server if you want to restrict players to a small group of friends.

But not every game offers self-hosted servers as an alternative. In particular, games that encourage players to upload and share their own content are usually restricted to official servers.

Such games include Mario Maker and Little Big Planet. Console publishers are often more protective of their IP; Nintendo, in particular, is fiercely protective of its games, locking them down to prevent anything but official, sanctioned access.

How Long Do Game Servers Last?

Gennady Grechishkin/Shutterstock

Long-running game servers are few and far between, although Furcadia’s servers have been up and running for 30 years. The majority of very popular server-backed games have only been around for the last decade or so, and are still running, with large customer bases.

Fortnite’s servers have been running for seven years now and there’s no sign of the game being shuttered anytime soon. The originalMinecraft: Bedrock Edition server has been up since 2013.

Meanwhile, the Wii U Super Mario Maker server lasted for just under 9 years. Sony’s LittleBigPlanet 3 lasted for almost 10 years, although its servers were plagued by problems resulting from hacks and mods.

The Overwatch 1 servers lasted just six years, andthe game is now officially dead . But that decision was simply to make way for the game’s sequel. Generally, a game server stays up for at least as long as a console generation. Publishers could argue that anything beyond this is a sign of goodwill.

What Happens When Servers Shut Down?

Frenzel/Shutterstock

Typically, when game servers shut down, that means no more multiplayer. Games with multiplayer at their core may, in effect, cease to exist, while others will simply lose a big part of their functionality.

Servers sometimes shut down gradually, as was the case with Super Mario Maker. The game released in September 2015, with phase one of its shutdown—no more courses could be uploaded—taking place in March 2021. However, player levels that had been uploaded by then remained playable for a further three years until they could no longer be played in April 2024.

Gamers have broadly accepted this as the consequence of massive online multiplayer gaming. With many online games—especially Battle Royale types like PUBG and Fortnite—reaching their ten-year anniversaries soon, we may see some high-profile shutdowns and resulting outcry.

A smaller group of players isconcerned about game preservation . Once servers are gone, they often remove access to beloved games; not even emulation can save the day, unless enterprising developers can find a way of using alternative servers.

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