Gamers fight back as publishers switch off online games

A growing consumer rights campaign is challenging the practice of video game publishers shutting down servers, effectively making purchased games unplayable. The "Stop Killing Games" initiative, founded by YouTuber Ross Scott, argues that players should not lose access to games they have already paid for.

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I just hate seeing creative works effectively destroyed.

In January, the campaign submitted a petition with nearly 1.3 million signatures to the European Commission, prompting a public hearing in the European Parliament. This action has elevated the issue from an online movement to a matter being considered by one of the EU's most influential institutions.

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every copy of that game that's ever been sold has been disabled, and no one on the planet can run it

The movement gained significant traction following Ubisoft's announcement that it would shut down its 2014 online-only racing game, The Crew, in 2024. Citing "upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints," the French company planned to take the game, which had attracted over 12 million players, offline. For long-time players like "Chemicalflood," who had engaged with the game for nearly a decade, the shutdown felt like a personal loss, impacting a significant part of his adult life and a way to connect with his children.

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someone just breaking into your home and stealing your bike or your car

Scott, also known as Accursed Farms, was inspired to start the campaign after seeing creative works "effectively destroyed." He defines "killing" a game as a situation where "every copy of that game that's ever been sold has been disabled, and no one on the planet can run it." Gamers like "Whammy4," who founded the fan community The Crew Unlimited, compare the situation to theft, where publishers "completely destroy all copies of the game worldwide, including yours," with no refunds or recourse for players.

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You buy a physical copy of a game, you bring it home and install the game, you play it for some amount of time. Then all of a sudden the publisher completely destroys all copies of the game worldwide, including yours.