The ‘Stop Killing Games’ petition has seen a recent resurgence in signatures over the past couple of days, now passing 800,000 signatures.
The campaign, created by Ross Scott, aims to challenge the legality of publishers ending support for games that customers have already purchased.
It states that an increasing number of video games are sold as goods with no expiration date, but are designed to be “unplayable” as soon as support from the publisher ends.
Scott argues that the practice is “a form of planned obsolescence and is not only detrimental to customers, but makes preservation effectively impossible. Furthermore, the legality of this practice is largely untested in many countries.”
For those interested, you can sign the Stop Killing Games campaign here. The final deadline for signatures is July 31st, 2025.
As it stands, the campaign currently targets the European Citizens’ Initiative, which requires 1 million signatures to pass. At the moment, the petition stands at 807,000. That being said, the petition is likely to reach its target, as within just 10 minutes of writing this article, it gained a further 2,000 signatures (from 805,000).
For those not in Europe, the campaign says,
“These remaining options unfortunately exclude citizens from other countries from participating directly, but all other options we have found are either exhausted or already underway. It is worth stating that if there is success on this issue in a major country, customers globally will likely benefit from the changes as well due to market forces. While it can be frustrating being unable to act in other countries, the most effective action to take is to spread the word on these initiatives to those who are eligible to sign. If you wish to prevent video games from being destroyed so no one can ever play them again, please tell others about the initiatives!”
As for whether the petition will have any effect, it remains to be seen, but if the goal is achieved, it could open up numerous possibilities of action.
What do you think of games closing their services after an undisclosed time? Do you think the Stop Killing Games campaign will force change?
Let us know through the Insider Gaming forum today!
For more news, check out Edward Kenway’s voice actor hinting at the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake, and the Rogue Prince of Persia being rated in Australia for consoles.
Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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