After Ubisoft shut down a game released in 2014, gamers throughout Europe say that this is robbing customers of their purchases and have started an initiative to stop publishers from taking down service games.
Gamers from Europe have started an initiative to prevent game publishers from shutting down service games and making them unplayable after a while. The initiative "Stop Killing Games" is now making its rounds on social media, and more and more people from all over Europe are joining in. But how did it come about in the first place, and what's the catch?
We have the answers.
The "Stop Killing Games" Initiative
This whole initiative was brought to life after the beloved Ubisoft title "The Crew" was shut down after being in service for 10 years.
"We understand this may be disappointing for players still enjoying the game, but it has become a necessity due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints. Decommissioning a game, and especially our first one, is not something we take lightly. Our goal remains to provide the best action driving gameplay experience for players and to deliver on it, we are continuing to provide new content and support for The Crew 2 and the recently launched The Crew Motorfest." ~ Ubisoft
The initiators believe this to be "an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media" and want to press charges against Ubisoft for shutting down "The Crew". At the same time, they also started the EU Citizen Initiative "Stop Killing Games" to prevent more publishers from putting down their games in the future, which is currently up for signing. The goal is to find a way where players would still keep the game in a reasonably functional (and playable) state after service has ended.
The initiative has so far collected over 180k signatures in many EU countries and seeks 1 million by July 31, 2025. But the whole thing is not only met with positive feedback, since many people consider it unrealistic and wonder if it would even be possible for publishers to keep their games in a playable state after ending service or even migrating games to privately hosted servers.
It's also important to note that not all games manage to be profitable throughout a long time, and some actually never reach profitability. So it is hard to find a balance between giving the customer what they have paid for, but also not giving publishers an undue burden that might hinder their ability to innovate and create new titles.
Possible Solutions
Despite the challenges, the "Stop Killing Games" initiative has sparked important conversations about game preservation and consumer rights.
Some proposed solutions include laws requiring game publishers to provide tools or software for community hosting of older games. This would let fans maintain access while reducing the burden on publishers.
We have also asked the Initiative's representatives for a statement on their goals and insights, and will update this article once we receive a reply.
What do you think of this? Feel free to let us know in the comment section :)