My brother is a huge fan of OpenTTD, the open source version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe that is beloved by retro fans and the premiere way to play the game nowadays. This is because the original was considered Abandonware and as such the only way to play the original was through a physical copy you had lying around.
Recently however Atari of all companies acquired the rights to the game and have re-released it onto Steam. Whereas before it was a free title due to OpenTTD being bundled with it, now it’s just a standalone title wich a price tag. What does that mean for fans of OpenTTD? Essentially you can’t get the game for free on Steam now unless you pay for the original. Whereas you can just download it externally, this still sucks and is another reason why rights holding can be exploited to annoy and ruin nice things. Perhaps this means something will come of this, like a full remaster or something, but as it stands something that was originally made and maintained by fans for free is now being charged money for by a random company, such is the world we live in. At least piracy is always a thing…
That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.