EU Petition Stop Killing Games Reaches Million Signatures

The citizens’ initiative calls for legislation that would prohibit game makers from making games completely unplayable after they are discontinued. With a million signatures, the European Commission should now consider the initiative.

Many games now feature an online component, enabling players to interact with others in real-time. Many even need that online component to function, which leads to frustration when the publisher decides to shut down the servers. For games that do not meet sales expectations, this can happen after a year. For popular games, a publisher may decide to use this as a way to push players to their successor.

The citizens’ initiative comes after controversy surrounding the online racing game The Crew. It disappeared from all platforms and gamers’ computers after the publisher, Ubisoft, shut down the game. Customers saw their purchase disappear.

Consumer rights
The citizens’ initiative now asks the European Commission to examine legislation that would make games permanently available, or to explain why it has decided not to draft it. The petition does not ask publishers to keep their servers up forever, but it does ask them to provide ‘end of life’ options.

This is, for example, an option for players to run their servers or to play the games offline. The idea is that if you buy a game, you should be able to play it for years to come. In that sense, the initiative resembles European consumer legislation on the right to repair or the right to keep a purchased item.

The petition has now collected just over a million signatures in seven countries, but that may not be enough, as those signatures still need to be checked for authenticity.