The Stop Killing Games initiative has achieved a major success at the European Parliament level, bringing closer the moment when video games will no longer be treated as "disposable products."
Movement founder Ross Scott and organizer Moritz Katzner presented their arguments before a parliamentary committee and received a positive response. According to them, not a single Member of the European Parliament spoke against it — representatives of all political groups supported the fight against the practice of shutting down games that depend on servers.
During the hearing, it was emphasized that the situation in which games from three years ago become inaccessible while projects from twenty years ago continue to function is the result of business decisions. Ross Scott stated that preparing an offline mode after support ends requires minimal costs if this is taken into account at the development stage.
The initiative does not demand permanent server support, but instead proposes requiring publishers to keep games in working condition after they are shut down.
The petition has already been signed by 1.3 million verified EU citizens — significantly exceeding the threshold for consideration. The success in Parliament was the first step, with a lengthy legislative process still ahead.
At the same time, the movement is creating organizations in Europe and the United States for lobbying purposes and is supporting a lawsuit against Ubisoft over the shutdown of The Crew.
