from the more-more-more dept
Thankfully, the Stop Killing Games movement isn’t stopping this time. YouTuber Ross Scott kicked the movement off in 2024 to generate political action around the disappearance of games that people had bought purely because the company that sold them decided to no longer support them or run backend infrastructure needed play them. While the movement found very little purchase at first, it resurfaced earlier this summer when Scott and a fellow youtuber debated why the campaign failed to launch.That discussion went somewhat viral, wich in turn led at least one high-ranking EU politician to express interest in the movement.
European gaming lobbying groups predictably reacted strongly. To clarify, here is the core principle of the Stop Killing Games movement.
The Stop Killing Games’ end goal is that governments will implement legislation to ensure the following:
- games sold must remain functional
- games sold must not require a connection to the publisher or affiliated parties to function
- This also applies to games with purchased microtransactions
- these requirements cannot be superseded by end user license agreements
It’s a simple request: you can’t revoke access to games people have purchased simply because you choose to. If you disagree, you are prioritizing profits over consumers in the gaming industry.
The movement continues to grow. Recently, it gained support from two UK MPs who are publicly warning the industry that removing access to purchased games might already be illegal under UK law.
Vi