It's already an issue and it doesn't take SMTs. Steem-Engine tokens can be used exactly like SMTs already.
For a game to be truly decentralized, everything, including the front end code (the code that runs in your browser) should be user-controlled as in being downloaded once and used as a browser extension and not downloaded from a server controlled by the project every single time. The back end should be the Steem blockchain and Steem Smart Contracts nodes that are used for validating the Steem Engine token transactions that are stored on the Steem blockchain.
That's how the DApp could continue running even if the original development team bolts. Of course, the code should be released under, say, MIT licence allowing it to be deployed and developed further by anyone. The dApp should not ask for payments in STEEM to be left lingering on an account controlled by the creators. It's ok if it asks for delegations for the purposes of rewarding its users or compensating the creators fairly.
True that.
I do not understand the technical aspect of the blockchain but from your explanation, it is possible to keep the dapp running even if the team that developed them exit.
However, they release a token which they promised to distribute when SMTs are launched. I don't think they can fulfill that promise anymore. Most people got into the game because of those said tokens, it was the major incentive to play for me. So maybe I just put this question to you: how do you think we can put measures in place so dapp can keep to their promise. Probably they should have a portion of their revenue in a reverse controlled by the witnesses, is this doable? Just like most banks have reverses with their central banks in case they fail to avoid bank-runs and mitigate panic.
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Yes, if the logic of the app were entirely in 1) the front end deployed as a browser extension like Steem KeyChain, for example, and/or 2) in a back end consisting only of smart contracts executed by Steem Smart Contracts nodes (= servers that are like Steem witness servers but only for Steem-Engine related data on the Steem blockchain). Smart contracts are self-executing contracts that are run by several independent computers simultaneously, which makes it impossible for any single party to break them.
I don't know exactly how the token distribution is done in the case of this DApp because the smart contract that releases the tokens could be written in such a way as to depend on what the game server (centrally controlled by the developers) is doing. But you could have the back end (= the part of application logic not happening in the users' browsers) written as smart contracts on Steem-Engine, which are unalterable by anyone but Steem-Engine witnesses (= people running Steem Smart Contract nodes) colluding. This way, you could write an entire decentralized application to completely function outside the control of the developers once it is released. No more possibility of exit scam.