Developers releasing very buggy games could be in trouble, says TIGA

By July 25, 2012 Press Releases

A proposed Consumer Bill of Rights affecting the sale ofdigital content could have a major effect on developers releasing games
containing bugs.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games
industry, says the new set of rules currently under consultation would enable
consumers to challenge developers if they feel a digitally downloaded game is
of poor quality. It is the first time consumers will be protected by the law when buying digital
content such as music, software or games. The consultation proposes clear
rights for consumers of digital content.

But TIGA is concerned that the Bill could cause expensive
problems for developers who release games containing bugs, especially smaller
companies which may struggle to pay for thorough Q&A testing.
TIGA believes that developers do not release games with bugs on purpose and
that their time would be spent dealing with complaints instead of fixing any
issues which arise.

The organisation does, however, understand that consumers need
to be protected against rogue software and that an updated Consumer Bill of
Rights is necessary. It is urging developers to make their feeling known about
the Bill during the consultation period, which ends on October 5.

According to the government, the proposed changes will:

  • Clarify the nature of consumers’ rights and remedies in relation to the supply
    of goods, which is currently an area where the law is unnecessarily complex.
  • Bring the services regime more in line with the regime for goods, by
    strengthening consumer rights and remedies in relation to faulty services. The
    changes proposed include establishing a statutory guarantee and statutory
    remedies when the rights are breached, and the consultation also asks whether
    there should be a new legal right to certain services being judged on their
    outcome, rather than the way they are performed.
  • Modernise the law on digital content to protect consumers, by establishing a
    clear digital content regime with its own tailored set of rights and associated
    remedies.

Jason Kingsley, chairman of TIGA, said:  “In such a complex area as the combination of software
engineering and creativity that is games making it is inevitable that some bugs
in the product will be present, hopefully in obscure and non game spoiling
ways, but present nevertheless.

“All professional developers do all they can to resolve
these issues before release, and many times with patches or updates after
release.

“I hope the law recognises that this is part of the
process and does not unduly penalise companies that are genuinely trying to
create products that are as perfect as they can technically be.

“Shoddy or badly tested games will be caught by this law
but I hope that consideration is made towards on-going support and fixing in a
reasonable time-frame by the legislation.”                            

Notes to editors:
About TIGA: 

TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The
majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house
publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing
companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA won 10 business awards and was
nominated a finalist for 9 other awards during 2010 and 2011.  In 2010 TIGA won two business awards including
‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the Trade Association Forum. 

In 2011, TIGA
won eight business awards including ‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the
Trade Association Forum, ‘Outstanding Organisation’ from the Chartered
Management Institute and two Global Business Excellence Awards, including
‘Outstanding Marketing Campaign’. 
Richard Wilson won the ‘Leadership Award’ from the Trade Association
Forum and the ‘Outstanding Leader’ award from the Chartered Management
Institute. TIGA is an Investors in People organisation.

TIGA's vision is to make the UK
the best place in the world to do games business.  We focus on three sets
of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and
developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members.  This
means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power,
their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a
material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and
improved commercial opportunities.

For further
information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or
email richard.wilson@tiga.org.

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