The Stop Killing Games campaign, which wants to force studios and publishers to keep video games that players have purchased in working order, even if they are scheduled to close, has already gained widespread support in the UK and the European Union, GamingOnLinux reports.
The Stop Killing Games initiative, founded by popular YouTuber Accursed Farms, is calling on lawmakers to require developers and publishers to keep online game servers and digital stores active or hand over backend code to player communities if a game is going to be shut down. The campaign began gaining traction last year after Ubisoft abruptly shut down the servers for The Crew, making it unavailable even to those who had recently purchased it.
In the UK, a petition to parliament has already collected more than 150,000 signatures - far more than the 100,000 needed for the government to consider it. "The public has made their position clear," said one of the petition organizers. "We hope that MPs will consider this issue in parliament by July 14."
At the same time, on the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) platform, the organizers of Stop Killing Games also managed to collect over 1 million votes, which is needed for the European Commission to pay attention to the problem.
In addition to regulatory changes, the movement proposes opening up the source code for the backend of legacy games, especially those that are no longer sold, to preserve the gaming heritage and allow communities to support their favorite projects. "We're not just fighting for the wallets of gamers," Accursed Farms commented. "We're fighting for the cultural heritage of our hobby."
The next steps depend on whether lawmakers in London and Brussels decide whether to discuss new rules to protect gamers' rights to access and support online gaming.