You Should Own Your Games - WAN Show July 4, 2025

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode ranges from consumer-rights and platform-control debates to a long, chaotic merch-message segment. Major topics include Stop Killing Games crossing key petition thresholds, Apple’s hypocritical F1 marketing push via Wallet, Microsoft’s new Windows 10 security-update extension tied to account sync, Cloudflare’s AI-crawler paywall/blocking system, and broader questions about how companies, games, and online services should sunset or survive.

Main Topics: Stop Killing Games and game preservation (Priority: 5/5): They support the initiative’s goal of forcing publishers to preserve access to games after official support ends, ideally by handing servers/tools to the community. They also discuss technical/legal challenges like licensing, security, and what counts as ‘killing’ a game. Apple’s F1 Wallet notification and brand hypocrisy (Priority: 5/5): They criticize Apple for using a system-level trusted app to promote F1 tickets despite Apple’s privacy-first branding and its own push-notification rules, arguing it looks no different from ad-driven competitors. Windows 10 security updates and Microsoft account tradeoff (Priority: 4/5): They discuss Microsoft’s added ‘free’ path for extended Windows 10 security updates, noting the real cost is syncing settings to OneDrive and likely giving up privacy. The conversation broadens into Windows 11 annoyance versus raw-dogging Windows 10 without updates. Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers by default (Priority: 4/5): They examine Cloudflare’s move to block AI bots and introduce pay-per-crawl, debating whether it helps creators, whether AI companies will retaliate in search ranking, and whether the internet is already heavily dominated by bots. LTT merch-message chaos and Lime Day promos (Priority: 3/5): A large portion of the episode is a playful product-guessing game for Lime Day items, plus several merch-message discussions about projectors, lighting, and store deals, mixing comedy with sales pitches. Operating at the Mittelstand scale (Priority: 3/5): They reflect on LMG as a mid-sized ‘Mittelstand’ company: too large for small-business tools but too small to be a giant corporation, with communication/process complexity becoming a major growth pain point. Broader tech/consumer-rights enforcement (Priority: 4/5): They cover Brazil challenging Nintendo’s Switch 2 bans, age-verification laws for adult sites in Texas, and Apple’s tiered App Store commission changes, framing all as examples of platform control, coercion, or regulatory overreach.

Key Arguments: Game publishers should architect products so the community can keep them alive after official support ends, rather than relying on infinite server maintenance. There are legitimate sunset complications—music licensing, shared IP, security risks—but those are solvable design/legal problems, not reasons to abandon preservation entirely. Apple’s privacy-first identity rings hollow when it uses a trusted system app like Wallet to advertise its own movie and cannot opt users out in a meaningful way. Microsoft’s Windows 10 ‘free’ update extension is not truly free if the cost is account linkage and cloud syncing; it continues the trend of trading privacy for basic functionality. Cloudflare’s anti-crawler and pay-per-crawl move is probably necessary because AI scraping is distorting the web, but it will trigger an arms race and may have unintended search-ranking consequences. A meaningful preservation compromise is to hand community stewardship tools, server control, or source/materials to fans while allowing the IP holder to keep benefiting from sales if the community succeeds. Age verification laws for adult content create major security/privacy liabilities because they shift the burden of identity collection/storage onto private sites without giving them a safe universal system to rely on. LMG’s scale creates a difficult transition: too many people and processes for informal management, but not enough scale to behave like a large multinational.

Data Points: Stop Killing Games signatures: 1,000,000+ - The EU petition crossed the threshold needed to draw EU Commission attention. UK petition threshold: 100,000 - They note the UK-specific version also hit its signature target. EA Anthem server shutdown date: January 12, 2026 - Anthem’s servers are scheduled to be shut down. Anthem removal from EA Play: August 15, 2025 - The game will be removed from the subscription service before server shutdown. Apple F1 promo discount: $10 - Apple pushed a ticket discount via Wallet to promote F1 the movie. Apple App Store guideline cited: 4.5.4 - Push notifications should not be used for promotions/direct marketing without opt-in. Windows 10 ESU paid option: $30 - One of the previously announced extended-security options. Windows 10 ESU rewards option: 1,000 Microsoft Reward points - An alternate paid path previously mentioned for updates. Cloudflare internet-share estimate: almost 25% - They cite Cloudflare infrastructure powering nearly a quarter of the internet. AI bot traffic estimate: more than 50% in 2025 - Used to argue bot traffic is now a major web cost driver. AI bot traffic projection: 90% by end of decade - A projection cited during the Cloudflare discussion. LTT transparent screwdriver sale: $15 off - Referenced during merch messaging for the transparent edition water bottle and screwdriver promotion. LTT mystery screwdriver Lime Day discount: $20 US / $30 CAD - The custom Lime Day screwdriver colorway promotion. Four blank tees promo: 4 for $60 - A Lime Day apparel offer. LTT water bottle discount: $15 off - During Lime Day they mention the double-wall vacuum-sealed bottle discount. Starlink maritime narcotics vessel capacity: 1.5 tons of cocaine - A Colombian Navy report on an unmanned semisubmersible test run. Starlink Aviation hardware cost: $150,000 - Corporate/private jet hardware pricing cited. Starlink Aviation monthly plans: $2,000 to $25,000 - Service pricing for business jet applications. Plane USB outlet price: $423 - A low-end aircraft USB outlet module price. Plane USB-C PD outlet price: $700 - A higher-end aircraft USB-C PD outlet module price. Vans RV7 kit payment today: $58,000+ - They browse a kit aircraft order form and estimate the starter cost. Vans RV7 top speed: 350 km/h - The kit plane’s listed maximum speed. LMG audience 18–24: 24.5% - Discussed as part of the channel’s demographic mix. LMG audience 25–34: 41.5% - Largest audience segment cited. LMG audience 35–44: 20% - Part of the audience breakdown discussed.

Pivotal Quotes: "“Stop killing games is the initiative to save games from dying at the hands of their makers.”" — Linus/Luke: A plain-English explanation of the preservation movement. "“A company that has spent years telling the world that privacy is a fundamental human right... just used its own system level app to send out marketing content that users didn't ask for and couldn't opt out of.”" — Jason Atten (quoted/discussed by hosts): Used to criticize Apple’s F1 Wallet promotion. "“You can't just legislate companies losing money.”" — Luke: Arguing that permanent server maintenance is not realistic, even if game preservation is important.

Implications: The episode frames modern tech as a tug-of-war between user rights, platform control, and monetization. Expect more fights over game preservation, app-store power, AI scraping, privacy tradeoffs, and whether big platforms can market, lock, or sunset products without backlash.