PewDiePie Encourages Gamers to Sign Stop Killing Games Petition
The Stop Killing Games initiative aims to, in a nutshell, change the law so that video games are sold with end of life support. Too many studios and publishers now sell video games as a limited-time (though unstated) license and not an actual product, and even if a game comes on physical media there’s rarely a guarantee that the game will still work properly in years to come.
The initiative is looking for 1 million signatures on a petition to the EU, and 100,000 signatures for a UK petition, although there is still a way to go for both. Gamers outside the UK and EU can still spread the word, as there is a very real chance that any change made in the EU will have a positive knock-on effect elsewhere.
Stop Killing Games is the brainchild of Ross “AccursedFarms” Scott. He recently spoke with Eneba about it, and associated challenges: “I’ve almost seen this as like a window that’s closing, where if this had took place three or four years from now we might not be able to get the same kind of critical mass.”
“Because, I think a lot of younger gamers just…it’s just assumed that these (the availability of games) go down and like, that’s just the way things are.”
Game Preservation is Everyone’s Responsibility
With a recent video from Scott explaining the initiative and his fear that it might fail, numerous YouTubers have picked up the baton, including actual game developers and known voices in the industry, such as Charlie White (penguinz0) and Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie).
“I want to say: I 100% support this movement. It ties in perfectly with what I talked about in my video, ownership over software (and the games we buy),” Kjellberg, commented on YouTube, while also encouraging people to sign the petition.
Stop Killing Games ties into the idea of games preservation, as every year more and more titles (new and old) get delisted or otherwise removed from sale/play. This year alone has already seen classic Sega titles disappear, as well as a brand new Bandai Namco Dig Dug game rise up and burn out after just two weeks. Recent estimates suggest around 90 games were delisted in 2024, from major studios such as Sega, Capcom, and EA.
Sometimes a game is removed from one storefront but not another, or remains in a personal library so can be downloaded again, but not bought. However, even in these cases, there’s no guarantee a title will stay on another platform, or even work if it’s reinstalled after a delisting.
Stop Killing Games is hoping to change all this, as well as put an end to unfair business practices such as EULAs (End User License Agreements) that allow a studio/publisher to stop gamers playing a game whenever they (the company) want.
Blizzard, for example, is one of the worst offenders, thanks to its EULA stating: “Blizzard reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason, or for no reason, with or without notice to you.”
What You Can Do
Gamers who have citizenship in the EU and/or citizenship (or residency) in the UK can sign the EU petition or the UK one. The former is at just over 800,000 signatures at the time of writing with the deadline being July 31, 2025. The latter is at just over 80,000, with a much closer deadline of July 14.
If either (or both) petitions reach/exceed their targets then the issue of video game end of life support will be escalated for official political discussion, and thereby stand a better chance of actually being implemented as law.
