The ‘Stop Killing Games’ petition has managed to secure over 1.4 million signatures, just ten days before the pre-arranged deadline. This means that there are enough signatures for the petition to be legitimized in the eyes of the European Citizens’ Initiative, even if a vast portion of the signatures are found to be invalid.
This stretch goal has been met ahead of time, and the number of signatures continues to grow, perhaps fuelled by recent comments by some controversial figures.
Target Met and Exceeded
Stop Killing Games is a movement that is trying to work within the realms of preservation to make it so that no video game ever goes offline. It’s not asking that publishers and developers actively support games long after they’ve had their time on the market, but it does request that a method is provided to keep them at least playable once servers have been shut down.
Here’s the gist from the petition:
This initiative calls to require publishers that sell or license videogames to consumers in the European Union (or related features and assets sold for videogames they operate) to leave said videogames in a functional (playable) state.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to prevent the remote disabling of videogames by the publishers, before providing reasonable means to continue functioning of said videogames without the involvement from the side of the publisher.
The initiative does not seek to acquire ownership of said videogames, associated intellectual rights or monetization rights, neither does it expect the publisher to provide resources for the said videogame once they discontinue it while leaving it in a reasonably functional (playable) state.
Most recently, more fuel was added to the fire when Ubisoft’s long-time CEO, Yves Guillemot, spoke out against the Stop Killing Games initiative. He referenced games having a natural lifecycle that will always see them taken offline, and that Ubisoft especially makes that clear when people buy and start playing its games.
Ubisoft has been at the forefront of the initiative after taking games like The Crew offline in recent years.
The Stop Killing Games petition will now enter a consideration phase, where members of the European parliament will review the stock of the petition to determine next steps. The road has only just begun, and we could still be several months from any kind of resolution.
Did you sign the petition? Let me know what you think about the milestone on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that a Rainbow Six pro has been arrested for kidnap and torture
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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