Tencent Magic Core APP will be offline on June 30, reminding users to apply for refund before this date

On March 9, the Tencent digital collection platform Magic Core said in its offline announcement today: “Based on the business adjustment arrangement, the Magic Core APP will be offline at 24:00 on June 30, 2023. After the Magic Core APP is offline, the users who hold the collection will not be able to query, download, display and share the purchased digital collections in the APP, and can no longer conduct the refund operation.” Magic Core recommends that users conduct the refund operation before June 30, 2023.

Interpretation of this information:

The announcement made by Magic Core, a digital collection platform of Tencent, states that their app will be offline by June 30, 2023, based on the company’s business adjustment arrangement. After the app goes offline, users holding digital collections purchased through the app will not be able to access or share them. Moreover, refunds will not be permitted after the app’s shutdown. Therefore, users are advised to conduct refund operations before June 30, 2023.

This announcement, although may seem trivial, highlights the importance of being cautious when purchasing digital goods. Especially in this era of digital assets, the companies tend to selectively shut down their services, leaving consumers stranded with their purchased goods. This is one reason why ownership and rights of digital goods are still a grey area in the law, and more regulation is needed to protect consumer rights.

The reasons behind Magic Core’s business adjustment arrangement are not apparent, but it may be speculated that the service may be merged with other Tencent services or discontinued altogether. This would mean that they will not offer the Magic Core collection services anymore, leaving their existing customers with no option to access their digital collections.

The announcement serves as a reminder that while buying digital goods may be more convenient than their physical counterparts, it always comes with a risk. And with the ever-changing technology and business environment, this risk’s magnitude increases every day.