Citizens' initiative from "Stop Killing Games" threatens to fail

Just under a year ago, an initiative was launched that was initially called "Stop Destroying Videogames" and is now more succinctly known as "Stop Killing Games". It is committed to ensuring that publishers are no longer allowed to simply shut down games. This was triggered by the case of the MMO racing game "The Crew", which Ubisoft pulled the plug on after ten years on April 1, 2024. As an online-only game that relies entirely on its servers, "The Crew" has not been playable since then.

The initiative wants to have such practices banned; as a minimum measure, game companies should communicate a kind of expiration date before purchase. Better still, before a title is shut down, it should be put into a form that allows the community to maintain it themselves. In the case of a purely online game such as "The Crew", this could be a local network play option. For titles that work both online and offline, at least solo play should still be possible. The initiative explicitly does not require publishers to provide games with support forever, it is only about ensuring that they can still be used without their intervention.

At the heart of the campaign are two formal petitions, one at European Union level and one in the UK. By the beginning of this week, neither had reached anywhere near the minimum number of signatures required for parliaments to deal with the issue. In the case of the EU, this is one million votes, in the UK 100,000. YouTuber Ross Scott, who initiated the project with several fellow campaigners, therefore published an alarmist video entitled "The end of Stop Killing Games", which was more of a last-ditch attempt to get the necessary signatures. Scott said this both in his video and in a later interview with Gamers Nexus.

More signatures, but nowhere near enough

This brought some success: several other major YouTube channels took up the cause, in some cases again. The submission to the EU shows that around 200,000 signatures have been added since then. However, the target has not yet been reached. At the time of writing, the number of signatures stands at just under 643,000, compared to just under 46,000 in the UK, which only has until July 14, 2025, and the EU until July 31, 2025. There is also a form to help people fill out the EU petition.

The disappearance of games is not just a problem for online-only titles. Many classic games that do not require an internet connection are also no longer accessible. A study conducted by the Video Game History Foundation in the USA in 2023 found that 87% of all titles released before 2010 could no longer be bought new. 1500 games were considered. This means that games are disappearing faster than silent movies.

(nie)