The Stop Killing Games EU petition reached its target of one million signatures just hours ago. Triggered by the shutdown of services for Ubisoft’s The Crew on April 1, 2024, Ross Scott founded the initiative in hopes of putting governmental legislative barriers in place to prevent publishers from pulling the plug on live-service games without an end-of-life plan.
Things seemed especially bleak for the Stop Killing Games initiative just days ago, as the founder predicted imminent failure of the entire movement in a YouTube video titled “The end of Stop Killing Games.” In it, he proclaimed that after months of efforts and roadblocks on almost every front, the last resort he had left was to bring the movement to either the UK Parliament or the European Commission. Both require a minimum number of signatures from residents of the UK and EU respectively to bring the matter to the lawmakers’ attention, 100,000 signatures in the UK and one million signatures in the EU; signatures that Ross believed the movement simply wouldn’t be able to muster, according to the trajectory at the time.
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A few days later, Stop Killing Games has not only achieved its EU signature target of one million but surpassed it, nearly a full month ahead of schedule, thanks in part to extensive media coverage from both traditional outlets and influencers like MoistCr1tikal. The main driving factor that renewed interest in the initiative, however, seems to be Ross’ own YouTube video, as the signatures for Stop Killing Games jumped from 500,000 to 800,000 just days following its release on June 23. To give context, signature collection started on July 31, 2024, and had only reached roughly half its goal in 11 months. Only 10 days after Ross’s video, the petition secured the remaining half of the required target, clearing the minimum acceptance threshold.
Stop Killing Games EU Petition Reaches 1 Million Signatures
However, Stop Killing Games still needs more signatures to guarantee success. After the deadline for the petition is reached, all signatures will need to be validated as being issued by real EU citizens. Invalid entries, like duplicates or those submitted by people outside the EU, will be thrown out. Reaching 1.4 million signatures would give the petition a higher chance of successfully clearing the validation stage and actually going to the European Parliament. Currently, signature submission is still open and will remain so until July 31. The EU Citizens’ Initiative is not the only front Stop Killing Games is fighting on, but it looks to be the most promising, especially since the UK petition for Stop Killing Games is in a bad spot.
The EU’s legislative arm has intervened in the gaming industry before, and has a proven track record of siding with consumer interests. Additionally, changes enforced by the EU Parliament have a higher chance of benefiting the entire industry, rather than only a localized region, something that would make Stop Killing Games’ aims a lot easier to achieve globally.
The Crew
- Released
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December 2, 2014
- ESRB
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T For Teen due to Language, Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Ivory Tower, Ubisoft Reflections
- Publisher(s)
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Ubisoft
- Engine
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Babel Engine