By John Walker on January 5th, 2012 at 8:51 pm.
Nival, the publisher and developers behind the Blitkrieg series and King’s Bounty: Legions, have got in touch with us this evening to let us know that they are “anti-SOPA” – the bill currently going through the US Congress that could irreparably harm the internet. They have given us a statement explaining their position, which is below.
“Nival does not support SOPA, despite a deep understanding of the struggle against piracy in the games industry. Unfortunately, SOPA could do more harm to Internet freedom than good to fight piracy. We recognize the issues our partners in the online press have with this legislation. We will continue to be anti-piracy but are also anti-SOPA.”
Clearly many developers and indie publishers are also against SOPA, but we are specifically tracking those who are members of the ESA, because the representative organisation has said it is in favour of the bill. We, and others, are asking the companies represented to explain their individual positions.
05/01/2012 at 20:56 strange_headache says:
John Walker is quickly becoming my place to go for serious games journalism simply because he tries to go beyond sitting in front of a screen shooting pixels. And for that I thank you Mr. Walker. Keep up the good work.
05/01/2012 at 21:04 Mike says:
Absolutely. RPS had a great 2011 for this kind of thing, and John did a lot of it. Proper legwork and prodding stories rather than pasting stuff from gamespress.com. Excellent!
05/01/2012 at 22:00 TWeaK says:
Here here. I’ve just subscribed to RPS in support of all the awesome stuff that comes out of Mr Walker’s fingers/keyboard (in fact, I suspect the crumbs and lint that collect inside said keyboard may one day be worth good money, thereby making this a sound investment).
05/01/2012 at 23:13 Zanchito says:
Yes, I like it here because you not only get articles about cool games, but also about other stuff that affects us gamers.
05/01/2012 at 23:15 e4rache says:
I couldn’t agree more.
05/01/2012 at 23:38 Wulf says:
Pretty much.
06/01/2012 at 00:28 InternetBatman says:
I’m glad that the response against this has been so universal. Even Jim Sterling did an editorial against this.
06/01/2012 at 02:00 liagsgydf says:
Nival contacted the ESA to let them know they don’t support SOPA, as have other members. Watch and wait. http://vo.to/btd
06/01/2012 at 03:49 jrodman says:
I did not realize we could subscribe! I clicked through.. and.. paypal :-(
Please consider offering a non-paypal donation/subscription method, and my money is yours.
06/01/2012 at 04:34 Buzko says:
I thought the spambot had evolved, with its eminently readable “Watch and wait” comment, but it’s just a copy of John’s comment below.
06/01/2012 at 08:01 kregg says:
Same as @TWeaK, I’ve suscribed to RPS. It costs exactly the same as the local magazines, but has more better quality articles and content. As opposed to a DVD full of out of date demos and/or one full crappy game.
Well done guys!
05/01/2012 at 20:59 Khemm says:
I don’t care what Nival say until they make Silent Storm 2 or Blitzkrieg 3. I’m serious.
05/01/2012 at 21:03 Chris D says:
Ironically you’ve just made it impossible for anyone to take you seriously.
05/01/2012 at 21:11 lorddon says:
*Wistful Sigh* Silent Storm 2…
05/01/2012 at 22:39 Hanban says:
Chris D is right. I couldn’t help laughing when i read “I’m serious.”!
05/01/2012 at 21:04 Squishpoke says:
It’s a good thing that some people realize that this SOPA thing will do nothing to stop piracy and merely cause a hassle.
Over in the U.S. there is a strict “war on drugs.” Is it working? Hell no. Not in the slightest.
05/01/2012 at 22:18 MasterDex says:
Why win the war when they can make more money fighting it?
05/01/2012 at 21:05 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:
Something must be done!
This is SOPA. It’s something.
Therefore, it must be done!
05/01/2012 at 22:08 AshEnke says:
Am I crazy or is that a Doctorow’s quote ?
05/01/2012 at 22:38 Nidokoenig says:
It’s originally, or at least most famously, from Yes, Minister.
05/01/2012 at 23:40 Wulf says:
Hooray for Doctorow! And hooray for people that read Doctorow.
06/01/2012 at 13:16 pepper says:
Watching over us from his air balloon!
07/01/2012 at 13:01 Dozer says:
Where he watches old British comedy while wearing a cape.
05/01/2012 at 21:29 asshibbitty says:
A Russian dev denouncing an American proposed law on a British website. That’s gotta change something.
05/01/2012 at 21:53 Zeewolf says:
They are members of ESA. So their opinion does matter.
05/01/2012 at 22:09 ulix says:
And to be fair basically all big internet firms are against it. Google, Facebook, Wikipedia and others are even actually considering taking down their services for a day, should the bill go forward, which would basically brake the internet and make it useless for that day.
I hope they go through with it (should the bill ge forward).
But as bad as SOPA is, the recently signed NDAA is even worse (even if it has nothing to do with the internet), technically abolishing the Bill of Rights.
The founding fathers must be turning in their graves.
05/01/2012 at 22:20 asshibbitty says:
@Zeewolf
They are? I assumed they weren’t from the last paragraph. Thinking about it they are owned by some American company now. Making a social game I see, always ends like this.
Huh, so it’s not just a bunch of nerds shitting themselves. I want to see the Internet go black for a day, imagine the headlines.
05/01/2012 at 22:22 MasterDex says:
@Ulix: But don’t worry! Obama won’t use it! In other words, VOTE OBAMA FOR RIGHTS! -_-
America is becoming that which it seeks to destroy.
05/01/2012 at 22:46 Zeewolf says:
@asshibbitty – Yeah, I see how that sentence could be interpreted that way. I assume RPS are getting a lot of mail from random devs saying they are against it, so maybe they’re trying to cut down on that. Nival definitely are ESA-members, though.
05/01/2012 at 23:47 koo slayer says:
meh
06/01/2012 at 00:02 Abundant_Suede says:
That’s just…..what? So the developers/publishers who oppose don’t “make stuff”…Google is “semi legit”…I don’t…
As a “nerd who makes stuff” I certainly don’t support piracy, but that doesn’t mean I welcome such a colossal bag of stupid as SOPA. There is room for nuance in determining whether a proposed cure is worse than the ailment.
06/01/2012 at 00:06 koo slayer says:
i retract my statemnt
the magik mushroom curry got to me
05/01/2012 at 22:10 MythArcana says:
The liberals won’t be happy until they completely obliterate everything. Try living in California where American citizen’s rights and liberties are thrown away every week, then you will see what the Internet will become at the hands of these idiocy mongers.
05/01/2012 at 22:33 asshibbitty says:
Two years for concealed carry of an internet, life for open.
05/01/2012 at 23:03 John Walker says:
You’re aware it’s the Reps proposing this, and the Dems against it, right?
05/01/2012 at 23:12 Phantoon says:
Right. Though both sides are completely capable of being total idiots/corrupt, the democrats are not pushing this bill.
05/01/2012 at 23:42 Hindenburg says:
@John: It’s not quite as cut and dried, as i’m sure you’re aware, given that the Senate Dems are for The Protect IP act, which, funnily enough, also would break the internet. So it’s more of a case of “we won’t let you destroy the net! WE’LL DO IT OURSELVES!”
Fun times ahead and allathat.
05/01/2012 at 23:43 Wulf says:
This explains a lot of MythArcana’s prior posts and helps me to understand him better.
06/01/2012 at 00:14 Azradesh says:
Actually John this is a bipartisan fuck up. Here is a list of the co-sponsors.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR03261:@@@P
06/01/2012 at 00:21 InternetBatman says:
Please. Zoe Lofgren, one of the more outspoken opponents of Sopa, is a representative from California and a Dem for that matter.
http://lofgren.house.gov/
06/01/2012 at 01:35 Azradesh says:
Have a look at the number of democrates that are co-sponsors of SOPA, or keep you head in the sand. Both sides have people for and against it.
Of the 31 co-sponsors 15 (by my count which may be a little off as I am sleepy) are democrats.
06/01/2012 at 03:45 Nalano says:
Nine of the original twelve co-signers are Republicans.
Nine of the original twelve who penned a letter of opposition are Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Sixteen of the current 31 co-signers are indeed currently Democrats, but they’re mostly Democrats in Republican states like Georgia and Tennessee or Republican districts like Owens of NY.
06/01/2012 at 03:58 Abundant_Suede says:
Even if John’s statement may be true in the most general fashion, the division is not clear enough to make a point of pride about one way or another, and the major organizations supporting/opposing are crossing traditional political lines. There are too many Democrats at all on the wrong side of this to feel good about anything along political party lines, and there are some Republicans, conservatives(especially of the internet blogger variety) and libertarians in opposition as well.
It’s a equal opportunity Cluster**** at this point.
05/01/2012 at 22:33 zeroskill says:
This is just hilarious.
Ok Nival comes out and says, they are against SOPA, but they are still a part of ESA, which not only supports SOPA, but also actively FUNDS SOPA. So someone in their PR department rang the alarm bells and say, “Hey! Public opinion is against the bill so have someone tell the public we are actually against this! Problem solved!”
If they really stood for what they are saying they should leave ESA like so many others already did. But they don’t, which in reality means they are still activly supporting SOPA. But its really nice they took the time and said they dont like it but still are going to do nothing about it. What a joke.
05/01/2012 at 22:54 Zeewolf says:
It’s not like they can give ESA orders just because they’re members. We don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes here. Presumably Capcom aren’t the only ESA-members who are in favour of SOPA.
If enough ESA-members are against, though, I can’t see how ESA as an organization can continue to support it. Let’s hope more companies follow Nival, 38 Studios, Trion Worlds and Epic.
05/01/2012 at 23:04 John Walker says:
Nival contacted the ESA to let them know they don’t support SOPA, as have other members. Watch and wait.
05/01/2012 at 23:41 DodgyG33za says:
If an organisation of which I am a member does something I strongly disagree with, I cease to be a member. By remaining a member you implicitly support the actions of the organisation.
06/01/2012 at 09:30 Ovno says:
Never heard of changing things from the inside then, pity its normally much more effective than just leaving and letting them bring in the stuff you didn’t want anyway…
06/01/2012 at 12:29 identiti_crisis says:
If you want to pander to the superficial people, sure leave the ESA “as a matter of principle”. If you want to actually do something to help make a change, stay and exert your influence. It’s like the sinking boat: stay aboard and help bail out, or bail yourself out and potentially scupper it for the remaining people on board (which for some of them might well be the goal.)
Saying that all members of an organisation are complicit with its every act is ridiculous. It’s like saying all Somalis are (actual) pirates, or at least support said (actual) piracy. Granted, being a voluntary member of an organisation is different from being a citizen of a country (although not all denizens are necessarily citizens, and there are still ex-Pats, migrants, refugees, and other socio-political divides etc. with their own ideas and agendas entirely separate from the administration of the country they inhabit, which is rather the point I’m making.)
07/01/2012 at 13:11 Dozer says:
I knew an ex-Pat. She calls herself Trisha now.
05/01/2012 at 22:52 New Player says:
The biggest reason for piracy is that most gamers are adolescents and anything concerning games is f*cking expensive… As for the other idustries. Well, it’s mostly the most commercial companies who complain and use this as an excuse to underfund new artists.
05/01/2012 at 23:19 zeroskill says:
Market studies actually show that most gamers are between 25-35, which are perfectly capable (unless they are students) to buy games in general. However one can get a different impression when playing multiplayer games, since most grown up men start acting like 10 year olds when combined with guns that can shoot other men on the internet.
But its besides the point anyway because SOPA isn’t really targeting piracy in the first place. The dangerous part about the SOPA bill is that it allows copyright holders to shut down any internet website even if they only suspect a copyright infringement, as far as I understand it.
05/01/2012 at 23:22 woodsey says:
Pretty sure the average age is 30 – and if you can’t afford it, you don’t get it. 5-year-olds get taught this lesson, yet pirates seem to lose it somewhere along the way.
05/01/2012 at 23:46 Wulf says:
Because all the kids playing Minecraft, Counterstrike, Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft, and many, many other online games where I’ve encountered kids are imaginary. Because the 15 year old kid whom I actually had a fairly intelligent chat about Skyrim with the other day (kid’s got a bright future) doesn’t exist.
And because studies show that 99.999% of surveys are always completely factual, correct, and accepted by people intelligent enough to know better.
06/01/2012 at 00:16 Azradesh says:
The average age might be that sure, but that doesn’t mean kids have just stopped playing games. The teenage bracket is the next biggest group in those same studies.
06/01/2012 at 03:54 Nalano says:
The average age of PC gamers keeps rising year by year. PC gaming blew up right when filesharing got popular, and has only been growing since.
It’s like drugs: If you want somebody to become a gamer, you expose them to games when they’re young. They’ll pay you back many times over throughout their life.
I pirated like a motherfucker when I was in high school. Now gaming is my greatest personal expense outside of rent and alcoholism.
06/01/2012 at 07:21 One Pigeon says:
Oh damn Nalano, you just described my life in that final paragraph. Now if only I could drop the rent part everything would be cushti
05/01/2012 at 23:27 Apocalypse 31 says:
Blitzkrieg 1 was classic, and will remain one of the best WW2 RTS.
Blitzkrieg 2, not so much.
05/01/2012 at 23:48 Wulf says:
Nice to see Nival doing this. I mean, it can’t be easy for them if they feel that some of their bigger peers in the ESA are supporting this, and they have to realise that they’re going to be stepping on a few toes.
Hopefully though, incidents like this will encourage others to come out and do the same.
07/01/2012 at 13:14 Dozer says:
Wulf, that was only three sentences. Are you feeling alright?
edit: d’oh. oldpost is old. I shouldn’t have gone away for a few days then read all of RPS’s updates in one go.