The Stop Killing Games initiative, launched by content creator and gaming advocate Ross Scott, has now collected over 1.2 million signatures, drawing attention across the gaming industry and beyond.
At the heart of the campaign is a growing frustration among players who find themselves locked out of games they purchased, simply because publishers decide to pull the plug on online services. Scott contends that this trend amounts to a “form of planned obsolescence,” arguing it not only undermines consumer rights but also jeopardizes long-term preservation of digital games. He also raised concerns about the legal ambiguity surrounding such shutdowns in many jurisdictions.
The movement, which has grown rapidly under the banner of a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), has now prompted an official response from Video Games Europe, a key industry body representing publishers and developers across the continent.
In a statement addressing the issue, Video Games Europe acknowledged the emotional investment of players and the widespread disappointment that can follow server closures. However, they emphasized the complex nature of such decisions:
“We appreciate the passion of our community; however, the decision to discontinue online services is multi-faceted, never taken lightly and must be an option for companies when an online experience is no longer commercially viable. We understand that it can be disappointing for players but, when it does happen, the industry ensures that players are given fair notice of the prospective changes in compliance with local consumer protection laws.
Private servers are not always a viable alternative option for players as the protections we put in place to secure players’ data, remove illegal content, and combat unsafe community content would not exist and would leave rights holders liable. In addition, many titles are designed from the ground-up to be online-only; in effect, these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss our position with policy makers and those who have led the European Citizens Initiative in the coming months.”
The ECI's momentum now places increasing pressure on regulators to weigh in. If the initiative maintains its pace and gains further traction within the European Commission, it could open the door to new consumer protection legislation around digital game ownership and preservation.
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