EU Law Proposal: 1M Signatures Needed to Save MMO Games

Ubisoft’s closure of The Crew ignited a European petition to prevent similar terminations of multiplayer games. Read on to learn more about the petition and their struggle to protect digital purchases.

EU Gamers Fight to ‘Stop Killing Games’'Stop Killing Games' Petition Needs One Million Signatures in One Year

A growing number of European gamers are uniting behind a citizen’s initiative aimed at safeguarding digital purchases. The "Stop Killing Games" petition is urging the European Union to enact legislation that prevents game publishers from making games unplayable after ending support.

Ross Scott, one of the campaign organizers, expressed strong confidence that the initiative could succeed, stating that, among other things, "the initiative aligns with other consumer policies." The proposed law would only apply within Europe. However, Scott expressed optimism that legislation in such a major market would inspire a similar trend globally, whether through legal requirements or industry norms.

Passing it into law will be a difficult task, however. The campaign must navigate the "European Citizen’s Initiative" process, requiring one million signatures across various European countries to gain sufficient recognition and submit a legislative proposal. Eligibility is simple; applicants must be a European citizen of voting age, which varies by country.

The petition launched in early August and has already garnered 183,593 signatures. While there’s still a long way to go before reaching the goal, the campaign thankfully has a full year to achieve this.

The Initiative Aims to Hold Publishers Accountable for Server Shutdowns

The Crew, an online racing game launched in 2014, became the focus of this issue when Ubisoft suddenly ended its online services in March this year. This action effectively deleted 12 million players’ game progress.

The stark reality is that when servers for online-only games shut down, countless hours of gameplay are lost permanently. Despite it only being mid-2024, games like SYNCED and NEXON’s Warhaven have already been slated for closure, leaving players without recompense for their purchases.

"It’s a type of planned obsolescence," Ross Scott stated in his YouTube video. "Publishers are destroying games they’ve already sold you but keeping your money." He compared this to the silent film era, when studios "destroyed their own films after screenings to reclaim the silver." Because of this, "most films from that era are lost forever."

According to Scott, they merely request developers and publishers to "maintain the game in a playable state upon shutdown." Indeed, the initiative specifies that the proposed legislation would require "publishers selling or licensing video games to consumers in the European Union (or related game features and assets they operate) to keep said videogames functional (playable)." The exact implementation is left to the publishers.

The initiative even aims to hold free-to-play games with in-app purchases accountable. Scott explains, "if you bought an in-app purchase as a good, then the game is made unplayable, well, then you just lost your goods."

This has been done previously. For instance, Knockout City was discontinued in June 2023 but was later released as a free-to-play standalone title with private server support. All items and cosmetic items are now available for free, and players can even create and manage their own servers.

Despite this, there are some things the initiative would not mandate publishers to do. These are:

⚫︎ Mandate publishers to relinquish intellectual property rights
⚫︎ Mandate publishers to relinquish source code
⚫︎ Mandate endless support
⚫︎ Mandate publishers to host servers
⚫︎ Mandate publishers to accept liability for customer actions

To back the campaign, visit the "Stop Killing Games" website and sign the petition. Note, however, that each person can only sign once. If you err, your signature will be invalid. Fortunately, their website offers country-specific guidance to help prevent this.

Ross Scott highlighted in the video how, even if you are not from Europe, you can still assist by spreading news of the initiative. Ultimately, their aim is to create "a ripple effect on the videogames industry to prevent publishers from destroying more games."