Stop Killing Games (SKG) is a group of people who want to protect video games after they are no longer available online. It began in 2024 when Ross Scott started it after Ubisoft closed down The Crew, a racing game that needed an internet connection even though it was mostly played alone. SKG uses legal methods to encourage game companies to keep games working properly even after they stop supporting them. This challenges the trend of treating games like temporary "licenses" or services that companies can stop at any time.

SKG became well-known quickly, with many YouTubers and news sources writing about it. Celebrities, politicians, and game developers praised it for addressing a long-standing issue in the video game industry. However, some people were unsure, pointing out problems with using licensed content and the higher costs of keeping games available.

SKG has started several petitions to government officials. The most famous is a European Citizens' Initiative called Stop Destroying Videogames, which collected about 1.3 million valid signatures. A petition to the UK Parliament got enough support for a debate, but it was decided that no changes to the law would be made.

Background

The Crew was a 2014 racing game created by Ubisoft Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections and released by Ubisoft. The game required a constant internet connection to play, even for single-player mode, because of its always-on DRM system. By December 14, 2023, Ubisoft removed the game and its expansions from digital platforms, stopped selling microtransactions, and said the game’s servers would close on March 31, 2024, due to "upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints." The servers closed as planned on that date. When the shutdown was announced on December 14, 2023, Ubisoft offered refunds to people who "recently" bought The Crew, though it did not specify how long the refund period would last. In early April 2024, shortly after the shutdown, Ubisoft began removing access rights from players who had purchased The Crew.

Ross Scott is a YouTuber best known for his machinima series Freeman’s Mind and for managing the channel Accursed Farms. He has criticized the practice of shutting down online-only games, calling it an "assault on both consumer rights and media preservation" and comparing it to movie studios during the silent film era "burning their own films after they were done showing them to recover the silver content," while noting that "most films from that time are lost forever." In 2019, Scott criticized the concept of "games as a service," calling it "fraud."

Overview

The main goal of Stop Killing Games is to stop video game companies from making purchased games unplayable, especially by closing servers needed for online-only games. It does not require companies to support or update games forever, but instead asks that games remain in a working condition after they are no longer supported, such as by allowing offline play or letting players host their own private servers. Scott explained that the group does not focus on games that are no longer available for sale but can still be played, or on issues related to controlling money. A major concern is that online-only games and downloadable content are sold as purchases on store websites, even though companies can later stop players from accessing them (without a set end date) for any reason. This practice is common in the gaming industry and has not been tested in court.

Most online-only games become unplayable after they are no longer supported, and few receive official updates to let players play them offline, even when players ask for it. Fan-made updates often require strong community support but risk being removed by companies due to claims of copyright or trademark violations. This problem began in the 2000s and has grown worse over time because of digital rights management systems and fewer options for private servers.

For many years, video games were seen as children’s toys or linked to geek culture, and politicians ignored issues about preserving games or treating them as serious art. Stop Killing Games aims to teach lawmakers about the artistic value of games and their importance as products, highlighting the need to preserve them and addressing concerns about how companies may not fully respect player ownership or break consumer laws.

Stop Killing Games uses government programs and legal methods to push for rules that protect games. Countries with strong laws to protect buyers, like France and Germany, are key areas for the group’s efforts. Other countries, such as Brazil, are harder to reach because of a lack of sales data, while the United States is not seen as a good place for legal or political action due to a past court case called ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg.

Activities

In April 2024, after The Crew was shut down, Scott posted a video titled "The largest campaign ever to stop publishers destroying games" on his YouTube channel. He introduced the campaign called Stop Killing Games and created a website for it. Scott also supported petitions, such as one sent to the UK Parliament and another called the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) in the European Union. The ECI collected over 350,000 signatures in the first two months. Volunteers from many European countries helped lead the ECI.

ECI Main representative:
• Daniel Ondruška (Slovakia).

ECI Substitute representative:
• Aleksej Vjalicin.

ECI Other organizers:
• Yandy-Abel Candelario-Vallejo (Spain).
• Jonas "Iona" Deutschmann.
• Brendan Fourdan (France).
• Krzysztof Gapys (Poland).
• Sebastian Herndlhofer.
• Moritz-Maximilian Katzner (Germany), who joined later.
• Zoltan Konecsin (Hungary).
• Damian Marcinczyk (Poland), who stopped organizing after the first phase.
• Egert Nurmsalu (Estonia).
• Johannes Ortner (Austria).
• Radu Paraschivescu (Romania).
• Eduardo Ramon-Coscolin.
• Adam Szopa.
• Pavel Zálešák (Czech Republic).

At the same time, Scott encouraged people to file complaints with consumer agencies in France and Australia about The Crew’s shutdown. The ECI was later renamed Stop Destroying Videogames because Scott wanted to avoid confusion with the topic of violence in games. The organizers of the initiative worked with members of the European Parliament, including Niklas Nienaß from the Green Party and Patrick Breyer from the Pirate Party.

The UK government responded to a petition about The Crew’s shutdown, saying that UK law does not require companies to support older versions of their software. In May 2024, the petition was paused because of the 2024 general election. A new petition was started and quickly reached 10,000 signatures, which is the number needed for a government response.

In February 2025, the UK government said it had no plans to change laws about digital obsolescence. However, it noted that if companies claim games will stay playable forever, the law might require the games to remain playable under those conditions. In May 2025, Scott shared a list of online-only games and their playability status. A report found that 68% of 738 games were unplayable or at risk. Only 16 games were saved by developers, while 110 were preserved by fans.

The ECI gained many signatures at first but later slowed down, reaching about 450,000 signatures. This is 45% of the 1 million needed for the European Commission to act. In June 2025, Scott posted a video saying the campaign might fail due to low signatures. Support grew after the video was released.

On July 2, 2025, the UK petition reached 100,000 signatures, making it eligible for debate in Parliament. The next day, the ECI reached 1 million signatures, qualifying it for discussion in the European Commission. Scott said more signatures were needed to remove invalid ones. The UK petition ended on July 14, 2025, with 189,887 signatures. The ECI set a new goal of 1.4 million signatures, which was achieved on July 20, 2025. Scott mentioned a cryptocurrency named Stop Killing Games, but he said it was unrelated to him or the campaign and called it a "scam."

On July 21, 2025, Scott posted a video saying a complaint was filed against the EU petition, accusing the campaign of not sharing clear information about funding. Scott denied the claim, saying the ECI had no financial support and that organizers had received approval from EU representatives. He also said the ECI is separate from the Stop Killing Games campaign and has its own organizers. The complaint was anonymous, but Scott believes it came from video game industry representatives.

On July 29, 2025, Scott encouraged people to share feedback on the EU’s Digital Fairness Act. On July 31, 2025, the Stop Destroying Videogames ECI closed with about 1,448,271 signatures. Initial checks showed 97% of the signatures were valid, meaning the EU might need to address the petition. On August 4, Scott said Stop Killing Games had "changed the timeline" and noted that without the campaign, The Crew might have been forgotten like other games. He also said he had not played a game in months and planned a break from the campaign.

On October 26, 2025, Moritz Katzner, a Stop Killing Games organizer, shared updates about the ECI and the Digital Fairness Act, calling the latter "record-breaking." He said most game studios, especially in Europe, listen to players and that game preservation is driven by a few people who do not represent creators or players.

After the 2019 game Anthem was shut down on January 12, 2026, the Stop Killing Games account said players should decide when to stop playing a game, not companies. It used the phrase "one man’s trash is another man’s treasure" to describe Anthem’s mixed reception. On January 26, 2026, the Stop Killing Games team said the ECI verification was complete, with 1,294,188 valid signatures (89% of the total). The European Commission said it would discuss the initiative by July 27, 2026, and respond officially.

On February 19, 2026, Scott announced two new non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for Stop Killing Games in the EU and the US. These groups would help oppose efforts against the campaign and allow people to report delisted games to consumer agencies. Moritz Katzner, a German organizer, leads the EU efforts. Scott said the video game industry spends a lot of money on lobbying.

Reactions

In 2024, the Stop Killing Games introduction video was released and quickly gained many views. It was also reported by several gaming news websites and YouTubers. Streamer Jason Hall, who is known online as PirateSoftware, criticized Stop Killing Games in a video on his YouTube channel. Scott, the creator of the campaign, believes Hall’s response slowed the campaign’s progress. On June 23, 2025, after Hall refused to answer Scott’s questions, Scott publicly criticized Hall’s video. Scott said Hall did not understand the campaign’s purpose and misunderstood its goals. Other YouTubers, such as Cr1TiKaL, supported Scott and shared similar criticisms of Hall.

Gaming content creators like xQc, Asmongold, PewDiePie, and jacksepticeye, as well as consumer rights activist Louis Rossmann, supported the initiative. Nicolae Ștefănuță, a Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the European Parliament, endorsed and signed the European Citizens’ Initiative. Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, also supported the initiative. Owlcat Games, the developer of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, said, “Every player deserves lasting access to what they’ve paid for.” Alanah Pearce, a game journalist, interviewed 20 anonymous developers. While they questioned the petition’s clarity, all supported the movement and noted it might challenge current video game preservation efforts.

Sergio Ferrera, an intellectual property lawyer and writer for Gamesindustry.biz, said the petition has good intentions but risks causing harm. He emphasized the need for proposals to reflect the realities of IP law, contract obligations, and server infrastructure. He noted challenges in converting server-dependent games to work offline and potential legal issues with licensed content. In July 2025, Video Games Europe, a trade association in the European Union, said offering private servers or single-player modes would be too expensive for developers and could create legal risks.

Randy Pitchford, president and CEO of Gearbox Software, praised the movement, calling the shutdown of Battleborn an “emotional experience.” He admired the activism, saying it comes from the same desire to preserve meaningful experiences. Mark Darrah, a former BioWare employee and producer of Anthem, supported game preservation but said adding preservation features might reduce the quality of the game or divert resources. He acknowledged the trade-offs of ensuring games never disappear.

UFC-Que Choisir, a French consumer group, said the information provided about The Crew was too vague for consumers to understand they only had the right to play the game. They are considering legal action. Maciej Gołębiewski, managing director of GOG Sp. z.o.o., called game preservation a “very complicated riddle” and warned that limiting game creators’ freedom might reduce the number of games made. Dino Patti, co-founder of Playdead, criticized online digital obsolescence and said the movement is a step in the right direction.

Ubisoft initially refused to comment on The Crew. After strong player backlash, partly due to Stop Killing Games’ initiative, Ubisoft promised to add an offline mode to The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest. The discontinued The Crew was not mentioned. In April 2025, Ubisoft released a video about the upcoming offline mode for The Crew 2, stating not all features would be available offline. Playtesting began on April 30, and the mode was added in October 2025. Motorfest’s offline mode is still planned.

In July 2025, Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, responded to a shareholder’s question about Stop Killing Games. He said Ubisoft provides information about how long games can be played and is working to ensure players have a good experience. He clarified that support for games cannot last forever. This response was criticized by users and news sources, who noted that Stop Killing Games aims to ensure games remain playable after being discontinued, not to demand endless support.

Debates

The UK Parliament petition debate occurred on November 3, 2025, and was broadcast live on the official UK Parliament YouTube channel. Members of Parliament discussed various issues during the debate. Pam Cox, the MP for Colchester, said that current consumer protection laws are not strong enough and that video game publishers should give players ways to keep or fix games even after they are no longer supported. Henry Tufnell, the MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, said that removing games removes important cultural and artistic works that are valuable to society and the industry. He compared this to destroying every copy of a book, film, or song, which would be seen as a cultural tragedy. Mark Sewards, the MP for Leeds South West and Morley, compared ending support for games to turning off a printer remotely after it is no longer supported. He said publishers should offer reasonable options for players to use games after support ends, such as single-player modes or private servers.

The debate lasted about one hour. It was decided that no changes to the law would be made, but the government will work to ensure companies provide accurate information to consumers. Stephanie Peacock, a government official, stated this during the debate.

Though Katzner thought the outcome was not ideal, he said the UK’s efforts are still active. After the debate, Morton Atkins, a leader of the Green Party branch in Aylesbury Vale, said he would ask Green Party MPs, who were not at the debate because there were few of them, to support the Stop Killing Games movement.

The European Citizens’ Initiative was successfully submitted to the European Commission in February 2026. A public hearing at the European Parliament took place on April 16, 2026. Nils Ušakovs, a committee vice chair, said the initiative is important to hundreds of millions of Europeans. Giuseppe Abbamonte, a European Commission director and copyright lawyer, said he will examine copyright rules that do not fully cover the video game industry and share his findings in July. Ross Scott, a speaker, explained that online-only games lack legal protections for buyers. He said disabling products without notice is unfair, comparing terms of service for online-only games to an insurance policy that can be canceled by the seller at any time without a refund. He called these practices "scams."

Scott also shared data showing that 93.5% of 400 discontinued games became unusable. He said the movement focuses on protecting consumers and does not require changes to business models as long as publishers provide proper support when games are no longer available.

Effects

In September 2024, California passed a new law called AB 2426. This law requires digital storefronts to clearly tell users what they are receiving after making a purchase to access digital goods. It is not allowed to use the words "buy" or "purchase" if the user only receives a license that can be canceled at any time. This practice is common among many digital storefronts. The law does not apply to games that can be played without an internet connection permanently. The law became active on January 1, 2025. Some sources linked the impact of SKG to the law's passage. In October 2024, Steam added a statement explaining that buying a game only gives a license, likely to follow the law. GOG.com, a digital storefront that does not use digital rights management, responded by displaying a banner stating that its offline game installers "cannot be taken away."