Stop Killing Games, a “consumer movement started to challenge the legality of publishers destroying video games they have sold to customers,” has been picking up speed recently. It recently hit one million signees on its European Citizens’ Initiative petition, the minimum amount it needs for the European Commission to officially respond to it. Now, the EU lobbying association Video Games Europe has offered its own statement arguing against the Stop Killing Games movement.
“We appreciate the passion of our community; however, the decision to discontinue online services is multi-faceted, never taken lightly and must be an option for companies when an online experience is no longer commercially viable,” the statement reads on Video Games Europe’s website. “We understand that it can be disappointing for players but, when it does happen, the industry ensures that players are given fair notice of the prospective changes in compliance with local consumer protection laws.
“Private servers are not always a viable alternative option for players as the protections we put in place to secure players’ data, remove illegal content, and combat unsafe community content would not exist and would leave rights holders liable. In addition, many titles are designed from the ground up to be online-only; in effect, these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create. We welcome the opportunity to discuss our position with policy makers and those who have led the European Citizens Initiative in the coming months.”