The long-running Stop Killing Games campaign just leveled up to a fully armed legal pressure group, with new watchdog NGOs being set up in both the EU and the US. Ross Scott sounds more optimistic than ever, saying, “I think we’re going to win this.”
At the heart of this push is the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames,” which cleared 1.3 million validated signatures back in January. That number forces the European Commission to formally respond by July 27 and hear the movement out in person. Scott and other organizers are expecting face-to-face meetings with Commission staff to explain why shutting off access to paid titles shouldn’t be an acceptable business model.
The group had tried to get game preservation protections baked into the EU’s new Digital Fairness Act in late 2025, but industry lobbyists beat them to the punch and helped shape the language first. That led to a round of confusion and bad‑faith spin, so the campaign had to clarify that they’re not demanding infinite support, just some kind of workaround so people can keep playing what they already bought once servers go dark.
Interestingly, support inside the European Parliament seems way stronger than anyone expected. Scott says he’s been told there’s a majority backing and that the issue will be brought before Parliament, which gives the campaign a second path even if the Commission drags its feet. That’s a big deal for those of us who’ve watched live‑service titles vanish overnight or seen storefronts delist single‑player games with online checks.
The new NGOs, one in the EU and one in the US, are meant to turn all this goodwill into something more permanent and will handle counter‑lobbying, fundraising, public outreach, and even build a system where people can report games that have been “killed” after purchase.
Scott’s tone in his latest update is justifiably upbeat, between the validated petition, political backing, and an actual legal strategy, Stop Killing Games has shifted from a rant about Ubisoft nuking The Crew into a structured, global consumer rights fight, and, for once, it doesn’t feel delusional to think they might actually win this for us.
Source: Stop Destroying Video Games
