Sunset Guarantee

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, you get 90 days notice, and a last update and download where a release has them.

Every disc keeps playing
90 days notice
A last update and download, where offered
Checkable without us

What keeps working, and what stops

Not every release has updates, Cloud Saving or a digital copy. The disc plays either way.

Your disc

Keeps working

It plays exactly as it does today. It never needed an account, a server or this website.

Before the date: Nothing to do.

Game updates

Stops after the date

On a game that has updates, the installed game keeps the last one you installed. The disc keeps its original files.

How game updates work

Before the date: If your game has updates, choose Check for Update in its menu once more.

Cloud Saving

Stops after the date

Our own Cloud Saving, not Steam’s, on games that have it. Your saves stay on your computer; only the Save Code service closes.

How Cloud Saving works

Before the date: If your game has Cloud Saving, use your Save Code to bring back any cloud save you still need.

Your digital copy

Downloads stop after the date

Some releases can come with a DRM-free download from your account, besides the disc. Once you have downloaded it, it is yours and keeps working.

What the digital copy is

Before the date: If your release has a digital copy, choose Keep a copy on your account and download the latest build.

The copy record

Stays checkable

Every copy we make with a preservation key carries that key on its disc label, and a signed record of which copy it is once our signing key is made. The lookup on this site closes, and the record can still be checked with the mark we publish before the date.

Look up a copy

Before the date: Nothing to do. We publish the mark and the program that checks it.

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.

Before we close

We will say goodbye first

If we ever decide to close, 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
A developer whose game has updates can send a final one. It reaches players through Check for Update.
3
One last chance
Until the date, you can install the last update, bring back a cloud save and keep a copy, wherever your release has them.
4
We publish the mark
Our signing mark and a small program that uses it go on GitHub and the Internet Archive, so anyone can check a copy without us.

The signing mark

What the mark is, and why it matters

Every copy we make with a preservation key carries a small record of itself: the title, which copy it is and the day it was made.

Once our signing key is made, the workshop signs that record with it, and only we hold it. The mark is the public half of that key: it can check a signature, never make one.

Like a wax seal on a letter, it shows the record came from us and was never changed, even after we are gone.

That matters when a disc changes hands, as a gift, a trade or a collector’s first copy. Today the lookup on this site answers it; once the mark is published, the answer no longer needs us.

Game updates and Cloud Saving Game preservation

Questions people ask

Will my disc stop working?: No. Play never needed an account, a server or this website. A disc plays the same the day after we close.
Does every release have updates, Cloud Saving and a digital copy?: No. Some games can have updates and Cloud Saving, and some releases can come with a digital copy. The disc plays either way.
Would you just disappear?: No. You get at least 90 days notice, by email and on this site. Until the date, everything stays open.
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.