EU Politician Backs 'Stop Killing Games' – Is This the Beginning of the End for Digital Game Purges?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
An EU bigwig has publicly supported the 'Stop Killing Games' campaign, which is demanding laws to protect players' access to purchased digital games, sparking hope but also predictable resistance from industry giants.
Right, listen up, because this is actually pretty huge. That 'Stop Killing Games' petition – the one trying to stop game companies from just... *poofing* games you've already bought out of existence? Well, it's gaining some serious traction. According to Eurogamer, a top EU politician, Nicolae Ștefănuță (Vice President of the European Parliament, no less), has publicly thrown his weight behind the initiative. He even signed the blasted petition himself!
Ștefănuță reckons, and I quote from his Instagram Story (because apparently, that's how world-changing statements are made these days), "A game, once sold, belongs to the customer, not the company." Preach, Nicolae, preach!
Now, this isn't just some random bloke down the pub agreeing with us. This is an EU Vice President. That carries some weight. Especially since the petition has already smashed through the 1 million signature mark, meaning it could be debated in the European Parliament. Fair dinkum, this is getting interesting.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Video Games Europe (that's the lobbying group for the big boys like Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard) predictably bleated that such a law would make games "prohibitively expensive to create." Sound familiar? It's the same old song and dance they trot out whenever anyone suggests, you know, treating customers like actual human beings.
Let's be real, they have a point… somewhat. Maintaining servers and ensuring backward compatibility *does* cost money. But here's the thing: we're not asking for infinite support for every Flappy Bird clone ever made. We're talking about games that people have *paid* for. Surely there's a middle ground here, some way to preserve these digital artifacts without bankrupting the entire industry. Maybe some creative solutions can emerge when Web3 and tokenized ownership is combined?
The UK petition is also doing bits with 150k signatures, and has forced the government to consider a debate on the matter, but they were quick to dismiss the thought of changing UK consumer law.
Regardless, this is a win for players, big time. One million signatures is a big voice, and that is only for the official EU one! Is this the start of legislation that grants control of digital assets to consumers?
Tags: Stop Killing Games, Digital Ownership, Game Preservation, EU Politics, Consumer Rights
Original article: Eurogamer