The "Stop Destroying Games" petition reached 1.4 million signatures. If they can be validated, the European Commission will evaluate whether new laws are needed to save online games when they are discontinued.
ADVERTISEMENT
The citizens' petition "Stop Destroying Games" has attracted more than 1.4 million signatures across the European Union.
It's looking likely that the European Commission will have to examine petition and decide whether or not new laws are needed to force video game companies to preserve discontinued online games.
"It's a form of programmed obsolescence. Many video games...have an online component. And when this online component is deactivated, not by the publisher but by the video game distributor, the game is unplayable", Daniel Ondruska, a representative of the initiative, told Euronews.
He gives the example of the online racing game The Crew, launched in 2014 by the French company Ubisoft, which has not been accessible since 2024.
He condemns a growing practice which, in his view, undermines consumer protection and destroys cultural heritage.
"All we are asking is that when the game is suspended, it has an end-of-life plan to remain reasonably playable. We don't expect it to be completely playable with all the options, just that the core of the game is still playable for someone who has legally purchased it," Ondruska explained.
"We're not asking for intellectual property, we're not asking to monetise, we're not asking to resell or anything like that. The only thing is, if we buy a product, we want to use that product."
Video Games Europe
Video Games Europe, the lobby group for the video games industry, said in a statement in July that stopping an online game "must be an option for companies" when it is no longer "commercially viable."
"We understand that this can be disappointing for players, but when this happens, the industry ensures that players receive reasonable notice of potential changes in accordance with local consumer protection laws," the group said in the statement.
It added that saving video games on private servers is not an alternative because there would be no data protection, no removal of illegal content and no fight against dangerous content.
When contacted for comment by Euronews, Video Games Europe declined the request, referring us instead to the press release.
Citizens' initiative
The European citizens' initiative "Stop Destroying Games" was submitted on 19 June 2024 and launched on 31 July of the same year.
It had one year to collect one million signatures in the European Union and reach minimum thresholds in at least seven Member States.
That target was reached on 4 July.
Since Monday, it has been at the verification stage. Member States now have three months to check the validity of the signatures.
But there is still a long way to go. The organisers will then have to formally submit the initiative to the European Commission for examination, which will have six months to state whether or not it intends to take action and present a legislative proposal to the European Parliament.
If necessary, the text will still have to go through the process of adoption into EU law.