Grefuga Studios Game Preservation Policy
Last Updated: Oct 15, 2026
If you invest in a Grefuga Studios game, you should be able to play it. When we can no longer host or support a game, we will hand the community what it needs to keep playing: a working build, the game files, and where we can, the source code.
1. Our commitment
Grefuga Studios believes a game you paid for, or put your time into, should not disappear because a server was switched off. A game is not a temporary service to us. It is a work people come back to for years.
So we commit to three things:
- Access. While we support a game, we keep it playable and keep your purchase and progress available to you.
- Warning. If we ever have to end a game's online service, we tell you well in advance, in plain language.
- Hand-off. When we can no longer provide access ourselves, we release what the community needs to keep the game alive: a playable build, the game files and server software, and where we hold the rights, the source code.
These commitments apply for as long as a game has an audience, not only as long as it earns money.
2. Definitions
- Game
- Any game developed or published by Grefuga Studios, including its expansions, downloadable content and in-game items.
- Player
- Anyone who has bought, unlocked or played a Game, whether it was paid or free to play.
- Purchase
- Any money or earned value a Player has put into a Game: the game itself, DLC, expansions, in-game currency and items.
- Online Service
- The servers, accounts, matchmaking, leaderboards, cloud saves and other hosted systems a Game uses.
- End of Service
- The date we stop running a Game's Online Service or stop offering it for play.
- Preservation Release
- What we publish at End of Service so the Game can keep being played. See Section 5.
- Community
- Players, modders, fan-server operators, archivists and libraries who keep Games playable.
3. While a game is supported
While a Game is on sale or in active play, we will:
- Keep it playable. We fix issues that stop the Game from launching or running on the platforms it was sold for.
- Keep your Purchases. We do not remove content you bought from your copy of the Game. If an item must change for balance or legal reasons, we replace it with something of equal value.
- Keep your progress yours. Where a Game stores progress on our servers, we let you export your save data or keep a local copy.
- Not add online requirements later. A Game that works offline at launch will not later be changed to need a connection to play the single-player parts.
- Separate the game from its extras. Online-only features such as leaderboards, multiplayer and cloud saves may need our servers. The core game should not.
4. Ending service
We will give at least 6 months' notice before End of Service for any Game. The notice will be posted on the Game's store page, on our website and inside the Game itself.
The notice will say:
- The End of Service date.
- Which features will stop working and which will keep working.
- What the Preservation Release will contain and when it will be published.
- How to export your save data and account information.
From the day we announce End of Service, we stop selling in-game currency and paid items for that Game. Any paid content you already own stays unlocked in the Preservation Release.
We aim to publish the Preservation Release on or before the End of Service date, so there is no gap in which the Game cannot be played. If preparing it takes longer, we will publish it no later than 90 days after End of Service and say why it is late.
5. The Preservation Release
Every Game gets a Preservation Release at End of Service. Each level below adds to the one before it. We release the highest level our rights allow.
| Level | What we release | Who it serves | Guaranteed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Playable build | A final version of the Game that runs without our servers, with all owned content unlocked. Online features are removed or switched to local or LAN play. | Every Player | Yes, for every Game |
| 2. Game files and server software | The Game's data files, the server software it used, and documentation for running a private or community server. | Communities that want online play to continue | Yes, wherever the Game had an Online Service |
| 3. Tools and formats | Level editors, mod tools and notes on our file formats, so the Community can maintain and extend the Game. | Modders and archivists | Where the tools exist and we own them |
| 4. Source code | The Game's source code, under a license that allows the Community to study, fix, port and preserve it. | Developers, ports, long-term preservation | Where we hold the rights (see Section 6) |
The Preservation Release is free to everyone who owned the Game. We will host it ourselves for as long as we can, and we will also give it to at least one independent archive so it survives even if Grefuga Studios does not.
Releasing the Game does not hand over our trademarks or characters for new commercial products. It does allow anyone to keep playing, hosting, modding and preserving the Game.
6. Limits we will be honest about
Some parts of a Game may belong to others: a game engine, licensed music, middleware, a partner's characters, or a platform holder's tools. We cannot release what we do not own. When that happens, we will:
- Release everything else. One licensed component never stops the rest of the release.
- Remove or replace, not cancel. We strip out or swap the restricted part, for example replacing licensed music with original tracks, so the Game still runs.
- Ask first. We will ask the rights holder for permission to include their part before we decide it must be removed.
- Say what is missing and why. The release notes will list anything left out and the reason.
For new Games, we choose engines, middleware and licenses that allow a Preservation Release, and we write preservation terms into new partner and licensing agreements. Where a platform holder forbids releasing a build for their console, we will still release a version for a platform that allows it, such as PC or web.
7. Building games to last
Preservation is easier when it is planned from the first day. Every new Grefuga Studios Game is built to these rules:
- The core game runs without our servers. Online features are additions, not a lock on the front door.
- Server addresses are configurable. A community server can take over by changing a setting, not by hacking the Game.
- Saves are local or exportable. Your progress can always leave our servers with you.
- Every release is archived. We keep each shipped build, its source code and its tools in our own long-term archive.
- An end-of-life plan exists before launch. Each Game ships with a written plan for what its Preservation Release will contain.
8. The community's role
The Community is how a Game outlives its studio. After End of Service, we explicitly permit:
- Running non-commercial community servers for the Game.
- Making and sharing mods, patches, fan translations and ports.
- Archiving the Game and its Preservation Release in libraries, museums and preservation projects.
- Streaming, recording and writing about the Game.
Community servers may accept donations to cover their running costs. We will not take legal action against anyone for keeping a Game playable in good faith under this policy.
9. Changes to this policy
We may improve this policy over time, but we will not weaken it for Games you already own. Any Game bought while a version of this policy was in effect keeps at least the protections of that version.
Changes will be posted on our website with the date they take effect. If this policy and any Game's terms of service disagree, the terms more favorable to the Player apply.
10. Contact
Questions about this policy, or about the future of a specific Game, can be sent to Grefuga Studios at support@grefuga.com. We read every message, and we especially want to hear from preservation projects and community server operators.