The "Stop Killing Games" citizens' initiative has successfully gathered 1.3 million verified signatures, surpassing the threshold required to force the European Commission to formally respond to demands that video game publishers keep titles playable after shutdown - a rare victory for consumer rights activists wielding Brussels' direct democracy mechanism.
The campaign collected 1,294,188 verified signatures across EU member states, with Germany leading at 233,000, followed by France (145,000) and Poland (143,000). The European Commission now has until July 27, 2026 to provide a formal response.
Brussels decides more than you think - including, apparently, whether your purchased video games can be deleted remotely.
The initiative demands that the EU "require companies to keep video games in a functional state" after publishers decide to shut down online services. The campaign was triggered after French publisher Ubisoft made its MMO racing game "The Crew" completely unplayable in 2024, despite players having purchased lifetime licenses.
Here's the consumer rights problem: when you "buy" a modern video game, you typically purchase a license to access software that requires publisher servers to function. When publishers shut down those servers - whether because the game wasn't profitable, the company pivoted strategy, or executives simply decided it was time - your purchase becomes worthless. You own nothing; you rented temporary access.
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) mechanism allows EU residents to petition Brussels directly. Gather one million verified signatures across multiple member states, and the Commission must formally consider your proposal. The process mirrors popular initiatives in Switzerland and some US states - direct democracy tools that bypass traditional legislative gatekeepers.
Before the July deadline, EU Commissioners will meet with campaign organizers, and the European Parliament will organize a public hearing. The Commission must then issue a formal communication explaining whether it will propose legislation, and if not, why not.
The initiative is championed by YouTuber Ross Scott, whose "Stop Killing Games" project has framed video game preservation as both consumer rights and cultural heritage issue. If publishers can remotely disable purchased software, what protects any digital purchase? Today's video games become tomorrow's music libraries, e-books, and cloud software.
Industry lobbyists will argue that mandating game preservation imposes unrealistic technical and financial burdens. Maintaining servers for games with declining player bases costs money; requiring publishers to release server software or enable private servers could expose proprietary code. Some games integrate licensed content (music, sports leagues) with contracts that expire.
But consumer advocates note that publishers could address these concerns by designing games with planned obsolescence alternatives from the start - releasing server software, enabling peer-to-peer modes, or providing offline functionality. The fact that publishers don't reflects business models optimized for recurring revenue, not customer ownership.
The Commission faces a choice: propose legislation requiring game preservation, which would establish EU as global standard-setter (since publishers won't maintain separate European versions); issue non-binding recommendations that industry ignores; or reject the initiative outright and explain to 1.3 million petition signers why their concerns don't matter.
Given Brussels' recent appetite for tech regulation - Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, AI Act - betting against some form of action would be premature. The EU has positioned itself as the world's regulatory superpower for technology policy. Video game preservation fits neatly into that narrative: consumers purchased products; corporations remotely disabled them; Brussels considers rules to stop that.
Brussels decides more than you think - and 1.3 million Europeans just asked Brussels to decide that when you buy a video game, you should actually own it. The Commission's response by July will signal whether consumer rights or corporate convenience wins this round.
