A consumer-led campaign called “Stop Destructive Game Practices” has been gaining momentum, with the aim of questioning the lawfulness of video game publishers deleting or discontinuing games that they have already sold to customers. This movement has recently amassed over a million signatures on its European Citizens’ Initiative petition, the threshold necessary for the European Commission to provide an official response. However, Video Games Europe, an advocacy group representing the video game industry in the EU, has come forward with their own stance opposing the Stop Destructive Game Practices movement.
On Video Games Europe’s website, they express gratitude for the enthusiasm of their community, but also note that ending online services is a complex choice that isn’t made lightly. When an online experience stops being financially sustainable for businesses, it may become necessary to discontinue these services. Although this can be upsetting for players, the gaming industry always ensures that players are informed in advance about any potential changes, adhering to local consumer protection regulations.
As a gaming enthusiast, I’d like to share my perspective on private servers: they might not always be the best alternative for players. The protective measures we implement to safeguard player data, filter out unlawful content, and maintain a safe community environment wouldn’t apply, potentially exposing rights holders to legal issues.
Moreover, many games are engineered from scratch to function online-exclusively. Proposing alternatives that exclude this aspect could limit the freedom of developers to create their vision, making the production of these online-centric video games excessively costly.
In the upcoming months, I’m looking forward to engaging in discussions with policymakers and European Citizens Initiative leaders about our viewpoint on this matter.
Video Games Europe published a detailed statement outlining their opposition to the anti-violent video game movement known as “Stop Killing Games.
In other words, the Stop Killing Games platform includes an extensive FAQ page, which tackles several issues raised by Video Games Europe.
Last year, the “End Game Removal” campaign was initiated by YouTuber Ross Scott, following Ubisoft’s announcement to terminate The Crew’s server access in March 2024 (Ubisoft is currently involved in a lawsuit due to this action). Since then, other notable games that have gone offline include the popular hero shooter, Concord, and it was recently announced that BioWare’s Anthem servers will be discontinued next January.
The cutoff date for submitting the petition is at the end of this month, on July 31st. If the European Commission chooses to explore the matter further, it might be several years before we see any legal decisions or outcomes.
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2025-07-07 18:09