• ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Left 4 Dead 2 has LAN, and it’s entirely peer to peer when online. “A long time” is still worse than forever. It would be a damn shame if your favorite movie made before you were born didn’t survive long enough for you to enjoy it. And the more expensive it is to build and operate a given live service game, the shorter its lifespan is. Games like Warhaven and Hyperscape didn’t even last a few years.

    • redfellow
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      8 months ago

      It’s Match Making isn’t peer to peer, and requires a connection, though. I’d reckon the playerbase to wither quickly without Valve servers and/or Steam friend list, even though technically possible, and a 3rd party could devise a system of finding players.

      • ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Valve offers ubiquitous matchmaking services as a part of Steam. They operate as long as Steam does. They’re funded by all the revenue that comes in every time anyone makes a purchase on Steam; these same services apply to third parties who choose to use them, too. Helldivers 2’s servers are run by some function of Arrowhead and Sony, and they shut down when Helldivers 2, in particular, stops making money, rendering the game inoperable.