01
Your disc
Keeps working
It works exactly as it does today. It never needed an account, a server or this website.
Before the date: Nothing to do.
If we close, your disc keeps playing.
Every disc we make plays without an account, a server or this website. If We The Indies ever closes, that stays true, and you get 90 days notice and one last chance to update, download and keep what is yours.
- Every disc keeps playing
- 90 days notice
- One last update and download
- Checkable without us
What keeps working, and what stops
One at a time, for everything you might have from us.
02
Game updates
Stops after the date
The installed game keeps the last update you installed, and the disc keeps its original files.
Before the date: If your game has updates, choose Check for Update in its menu once more.
03
Cloud Saving
Stops after the date
Your saves stay where they always were, on your computer. Only the Save Code service closes.
Before the date: If your game has Cloud Saving, use your Save Code to bring back any cloud save you still need.
04
Your digital copy
Downloads stop after the date
A copy you have downloaded is yours, DRM-free, and keeps working. For a game, the free Rialto 1.5 can even make your own backup disc from it.
Before the date: If your release includes a digital copy, choose Keep a copy on your account to download the latest build.
05
The numbered-copy record
Stays checkable
Every numbered copy we make, on disc or USB, carries its own signed record of which copy it is. The lookup on this site closes, and the record can still be checked with the mark we publish before the date.
Before the date: Nothing to do. We publish the mark and the program that checks it.
06
Goldwing Media Player
Keeps working
It never asks for an account. It plays your discs, and the copies you keep, with or without us.
Before the date: Keep a copy of its installer, for the next computer you set up.
We will say goodbye first
If we ever decide to close, these four things happen before the date.
- 1
We tell you
We email every account holder and every developer, and put the date on this site, at least 90 days ahead.
- 2
The last updates go out
Developers can send a final update. It reaches players through Check for Update, as always.
- 3
One last chance
Until the date, every owner can install the last update, bring back a cloud save and keep a copy.
- 4
We publish the mark
Our public signing mark and a small program that uses it go on GitHub and the Internet Archive, so anyone can check a numbered disc without us.
What the mark is, and why it matters
Every numbered copy we make carries a small record of itself: the title, the copy number and the day it was made.
Our workshop signs that record with a key only we hold. The mark is the public half of that key. It can check a signature, and it can never make one.
With it, anyone can confirm that a record came from us and was never changed. Think of a wax seal on a letter: it still shows who sent the letter after the sender is gone.
That matters when a disc changes hands, as a gift, a trade or a collector’s copy number 1. Today the lookup on this site answers it. Once the mark is published, the answer no longer needs us.
Questions people ask
- Will my disc stop working?
- No. Play never needed an account, a server or this website. A disc works the same the day after we close as the day before.
- Would you just disappear?
- No. You get at least 90 days notice by email and on this site. Until the date everything stays open, so you can update, download and keep what is yours.
- What happens to a developer’s game?
- It stays theirs. Our agreement covers making and selling physical copies, never publishing a game digitally. We never publish anyone’s game to the public. The last build goes only to the people who own it.
- What if I miss the date?
- Your disc still plays, and anything you downloaded still works. After the date you cannot download a new copy or bring back a cloud save.
- Is the mark published yet?
- Not on GitHub or the Internet Archive yet. This page is the promise until it is, and then it will say where.
- Does this cover every part of every game?
- It covers what we make and run. If a game needs another company’s service for part of it, such as an online mode, that part depends on that company.