EU to respond to “Stop Killing Games” following petition success
Stop Killing Games petition receives almost 1.3 million signatures, prompting an EU response
Following the success of their EU petition, the European Commission now has until July 27th 2026, to present an official reply. After months of verification, the “Stop Killing Games” petition received 1,294,188 confirmed signatures, well over the commission’s 1 million target for a valid initiative.
The European Commission must now examine the issue and formulate a response over the next six months. The organisers of the petition want a legal requirement for videogame publishers to leave the games they sell in a functional state. This will prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.
High-profile examples of game shutdowns include Ubisoft’s The Crew and EA’s Anthem, both of which are no longer playable. Anthem was disabled this month, invalidating the purchases of all game owners without a refund. Since both of these games are playable solo, owners are rightly annoyed by their closure. If successful, the EU could respond to this petition with legislation that would prevent publishers from closing down their games. However, the EU is unlikely to make changes that would place overly burdensome requirements on game developers/publishers.
Commission to examine European Citizens’ Initiative called ‘Stop Destroying Videogames’
Today, the European Citizens’ Initiative called ‘Stop Destroying Videogames’ was submitted by its organisers to the European Commission. Following its registration in June 2024, the initiative obtained 1,294,188 validated statements of support from EU citizens and reached required thresholds in 24 Member States, making it the 14th valid initiative that will be examined by the Commission. According to the ECI Regulation, when the Commission receives a valid initiative with at least 1 million certified statements of support, the Commission is required to start an examination process and issue a reply within 6 months.
The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to introduce a requirement for publishers selling or licensing videogames in the EU to leave such games in a functional state, so as to prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.
The Commission has until 27 July 2026 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take, if any. The Commission will meet the organisers to discuss the initiative in detail in the coming weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament.
If Stop Killing Games is successful, laws could be enacted that change gaming forever. Games could be developed with an “end state” in mind. This would prevent paid-for games from being delisted and made unavailable when their developers/publishers decide to shut down their servers. This means that more games will have functional offline modes, and the purchases of consumers will be protected.
You can join the discussion on Stop Killing Games’ successful EU petition on the OC3D Forums.
