What happens to an online-only game when the servers disappear?

What happens to an online-only game when the servers disappear?

I've been thinking about online-only games lately.

Not even necessarily whether they're good or bad, because obviously people can have an incredible time with them. I'm more interested in the idea of what happens to a game once the servers eventually disappear.

Like, you could spend hundreds of hours playing something. Build memories around it. Get really good at it. Maybe that game was a huge part of your life for a few years.

And then eventually the servers shut down.

What happens to that game at that point?

I experienced this firsthand with FIFA Ultimate Team, and I remember thinking about how weird the whole thing was. The memories are still there, obviously, but the actual experience is no longer something you can return to.

And I think that's what has always felt strange to me about online-only games.

If you can spend hundreds of hours with something, pay money for it, and form memories around it, but eventually lose the ability to access it entirely... what happens to that experience once you can no longer return to it?

Is remembering an experience enough, or is being able to return to it part of what makes the experience meaningful?