The Stop Killing Games website has provided a new way to track the number of signatures that the petition has gathered since its inception. This follows recent news that the petition had hit a milestone of 820,000 signatures, and since then that number has significantly increased. Following the delisting of titles like Ubisoft’s The Crew, YouTuber Ross Scott noted the issue of games getting delisted and becoming unplayable, inspiring him to begin the Stop Killing Games movement.
This movement eventually developed into a petition with the goal of 1 million signatures, and as of July 3, Stop Killing Games has officially reached that goal. Although the movement had until July 31 to achieve this goal, additional media coverage from various outlets was enough to reach and even surpass the original target. In addition to gathering signatures, the Stop Killing Games movement has also managed to bring forth individual petitions in multiple countries and complaints have been filed with consumer agencies in Germany, France, and Australia. Whether through actions such as these or simple signatures, it’s clear that gamers around the world are ready to see a change.
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‘Stop Killing Games’ Petition Sees Resurgence and Hits Impressive Milestone
The major consumer movement “Stop Killing Games,” fighting to stop multiplayer shutdowns, sees a huge resurgence and hits a major milestone.
The official Stop Killing Games website now has a tracker which follows the progress of the petition. Although the petition has reached its goal, the movement is hoping to secure at least 400,000 additional signatures in order to account for the possibility of invalid signatures. Back in 2023, the Video Game History Foundation performed a study which found that roughly 87% of games released before 2010 are not easily accessible with modern technology, indicating this has been a significant problem for quite some time.
Stop Killing Games Petition Tracker Released on Official Website
The success of this petition sends a powerful message amid recent reports showing the severity of game shutdowns, including industry titan EA shutting down servers for 61 games in the past 2 years alone. Of course, this number only represents a small portion of the problem with accessing older games in the modern era, as many titles have been removed from digital storefronts like Steam, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live over the last couple of decades. The main issue at hand is customers who are paying for a game that might not always be accessible due to copyright and other legal concerns.
Thankfully, in a world of gamers who seem increasingly unhappy with watching game libraries dwindle away, the GOG Game Preservation Program continues to do its best to save as many older titles as it can. This program includes over 100 classic games without DRM, ensuring that account owners will always have the opportunity to download and play previously purchased games.
Anyone who lives in the European Union and has yet to sign the Stop Killing Games petition will have until July 31 to do so, and every new and unique signature will help to ensure that it reaches the European Parliament. Given that the EU has ruled in favor of consumer interests in the past, there’s a very good chance that this petition could actually change the laws in Europe. If publishers and developers are forced to make this kind of change for the entire European market, it could go a long way towards encouraging similar actions in other markets.
