PewDiePie Backs “Stop Killing Games” Campaign for Offline Play and Server Rights

Brickinfo News Agency – The “Stop Killing Games” campaign, advocating for consumer rights in the video game industry, has gained significant traction, with over 993,000 signatures as of 8:10 PM ICT. The initiative is nearing its target of 1,000,000 signatures, a threshold required to bring the issue before the European Parliament. Launched in 2024, the movement has seen a rapid increase in support over the past week.

The “Stop Killing Games” campaign addresses the practice of game companies discontinuing game services or shutting down servers, which renders purchased games unplayable even if the files are locally stored. The campaign’s website argues that this practice harms consumers.

Ross Scott, creator of the YouTube channel Accursed Farms, initiated the movement in April 2024 following Ubisoft’s discontinuation of The Crew and a broader trend of game studios preventing players from accessing purchased games without refunds or the preservation of single-player modes.

After a year of unsuccessful petitions, the movement gained widespread attention with the support of prominent internet figures such as PewDiePie and Moist Critical. This endorsement led to hundreds of thousands of new signatures in a matter of days.

With signatures surpassing 993,000 and continuously increasing, reaching the 1,000,000 mark appears to be a certainty. Once this goal is achieved, Ross Scott will have the opportunity to present the initiative to the European Commission and speak at a public hearing in the European Parliament.

This step significantly boosts the campaign’s primary objective: to mandate game studios to maintain game functionality even after official servers are shut down. Such legislation, if passed in the European Union, could set a precedent for other countries, similar to regulations like the USB Type-C standard for electronics sold in Europe.

It is important to note that signature collection for this campaign is limited to European Union citizens only.