European Commission to review 'Stop Killing Videogames' after 1.29 million signatures

The initiative "Stop Killing Videogames" was a massive success, attracting nearly 1.3 million signatures by its conclusion, surpassing the 1 million threshold set by the European Commission. With more than 1 million validated signatures, the "Stop Killing Videogames" initiative will be reviewed by the European Commission.

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In a nutshell, the organizers of the Stop Killing Videogames initiative want regulations in place that require videogame publishers to leave their games in a functional state if they decide to no longer support them. For those unaware, the initiative was kicked into motion following Ubisoft's announcement of the shutdown of The Crew, and then EA did the same with Anthem.

The response for The Crew shutdown even spawned a lawsuit against Ubisoft, where it was alleged that Ubisoft was "duping consumers" into purchasing The Crew without informing buyers the game's servers would be shut down. If the EU deems the initiative worthwhile and decides to implement new laws, it would mean game developers/publishers would be required to leave their game in a functional state in perpetuity, or at the very least enable buyers of the game to access its files to still play privately, locally, or online, even if it isn't official servers.

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So, what happens now? The EU will be reviewing Stop Killing Games, and is required to issue a response with an official response within 6 months. The cut-off date for the EU is July 27, 2026, and within the response will be the actions it intends to take, if any.

Today, the European Citizens' Initiative called 'Stop Killing Videogames' was submitted by its organisers to the European Commission. Following its registration in June 2024, the initiative obtained 1,294,188 validated statements of support from EU citizens and reached required thresholds in 24 Member States, making it the 14th valid initiative that will be examined by the Commission. According to the ECI Regulation, when the Commission receives a valid initiative with at least 1 million certified statements of support, the Commission is required to start an examination process and issue a reply within 6 months.

The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to introduce a requirement for publishers selling or licensing videogames in the EU to leave such games in a functional state, so as to prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.

The Commission has until 27 July 2026 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take, if any. The Commission will meet the organisers to discuss the initiative in detail in the coming weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament.