Stop Killing Games: Difference between revisions

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{{InfoboxCompany

| Name = Stop Killing Games

| Type = Public Campaign

| Founded = 2024

| Industry = Videogame Consumer Rights

| Official Website = https://www.stopkillinggames.com/

| Logo = Stop killing games.jpeg

}}

'''Stop Killing Games''' ('''SKG''') is a campaign intended to spread awareness regarding publishers revoking licenses for consumers and removing game functionality so that they are no longer in a playable state. The campaign was announced on April 2, 2024 by Accursed Farms, better known as Ross W. Scott, an American YouTuber and consumer activist who is best known for his [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SQhfkpX9bc&list=PL6PNZBb6b9LvDWpI-5CPYUxG1Rnm-vr9V Freeman's Mind] series.

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On April 16, 2024, a UK Parliament petition titled "Require videogame publishers to keep games they have sold in a working state"<ref name=":0">[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659071 "Require videogame publishers to keep games they have sold in a working state"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' December 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> began collecting signatures. The petition intended to create laws to prevent publishers from removing the ability to play games after purchase. The petition was subsequently closed on May 30, 2024 due to the UK general elections<ref name=":0" />, preventing further signatures. It reached 27,341 signatures and was originally scheduled to close on October 16, 2024<ref>[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-government-responds-to-stop-killing-games-campaign "UK government responds to Stop Killing Games campaign"] ''Games Industry.'' May 15, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref>.

On January 14, 2025, Lewis Evans created a petition titled "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"<ref>[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/ "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> closely following the prematurely closed petition in 2024. It is yet to receive a government response and is due for one on January 30.

On January 14, 2025, Lewis Evans created a petition titled "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"<ref name=":1">[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/ "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> closely following the prematurely closed petition in 2024. It is yet to receive a government response and is due for one on January 30.

On February 3, 2025, The UK Government responded to the Petition, “There are no plans to amend UK consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, and we will continue to monitor this issue.”<ref name=":1" /> As of July 2nd, 2025, the petition reached the goal of 100,000 signatures to be considered for debate in the UK Parliament.

===European Citizens' Initiative===

On June 19, 2024, "Stop Destroying Videogames"<ref>[https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007_en "Stop Destroying Videogames"] ''European Citizens' Initiative.'' 19 July, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref> was registered as a European Citizens' Initiative by Daniel Ondruska. A month and a half later, on July 31, 2024, the initiative began collecting signatures. Accursed Farms ~~later~~ posted the video "Europeans can save gaming!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMe9MxxZiI "Europeans can save gaming!"] ''Accursed Farms.'' July 31, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> on the same day, encouraging European citizens to sign the initiative. The deadline of the initiative is on July 31, 2025~~, and as~~ of ~~January 24~~, 2025, there are over ~~400~~,000 signatures.

On June 19, 2024, "Stop Destroying Videogames"<ref>[https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007_en "Stop Destroying Videogames"] ''European Citizens' Initiative.'' 19 July, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref> was registered as a European Citizens' Initiative by Daniel Ondruska. A month and a half later, on July 31, 2024, the initiative began collecting signatures. Accursed Farms posted the video "Europeans can save gaming!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMe9MxxZiI "Europeans can save gaming!"] ''Accursed Farms.'' July 31, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> later on the same day, encouraging European citizens to sign the initiative.

<~~references~~ />

About a week later, Thor of Pirate Software published a video covering SKG, with the intent to negatively criticize SKG.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioqSvLqB46Y "Stop Killing Games" response video] ''Pirate Software.'' August 6, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2025.</ref> Ross from Accursed Farms attempted to contact Thor about having false assumptions of the campaign's objectives. Ross cited Pirate Software's video as the primary cause for signatures drying up on the European Citizens' Initiative petition. Ross stated that they did not initially make a response video directed at Thor, because "it might look like drama farming" for the campaign, but when the deadline started drawing near, Ross went through with making a response on June 23, 2025 as a last-ditch effort to save the campaign.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIfRLujXtUo "The end of Stop Killing Games"] ''Accursed Farms.'' June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.</ref>

For a European citizens' initiative to be valid, it must obtain at least one million valid signatures and meet the minimum thresholds in at least seven countries. The deadline of the initiative is on July 31, 2025. As of June 25th, 2025, there are over 500,000 signatures and the threshold has passed for over ten countries.

As of July 3, 2025, the European campaign has reached its goal of 1,000,000 signatures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stop Destroying Videogames |url=https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250703072953/https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home |archive-date=2025-07-03 |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=European Union Online Collection System}}</ref>

==Video game preservation==

There are also efforts to restore older games, or to allow the community of games to have access to the source code of games themselves. In 2025 there were several developments by major publishers, such as [[Valve]] and [[EA]]. Valve released the source code of Team Fortress 2 in February.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 Feb 2025 |title=The TF2 SDK has arrived! |url=https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=238809 |access-date=10 Mar 2025 |website=Team Fortress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Valve Releases Team Fortress 2 Source Code, Now open to Modders |url=https://bitskins.com/blog/valve-releases-team-fortress-2-source-code-now-open-to-modders/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310111654/https://bitskins.com/blog/valve-releases-team-fortress-2-source-code-now-open-to-modders/ |archive-date=10 Mar 2025 |access-date=10 Mar 2025 |website=BitSkins}}</ref> EA released the source code of [[EA releases source code of classic command and conquer titles|classic command and conquer titles]], also in February 2025.

==References==

[[Category:Consumer activism]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{InfoboxCompany
+| Name = Stop Killing Games
+| Type = Public Campaign
+| Founded = 2024
+| Industry = Videogame Consumer Rights
+| Official Website = https://www.stopkillinggames.com/
+| Logo = Stop killing games.jpeg
+}}
 '''Stop Killing Games''' ('''SKG''') is a campaign intended to spread awareness regarding publishers revoking licenses for consumers and removing game functionality so that they are no longer in a playable state. The campaign was announced on April 2, 2024 by Accursed Farms, better known as Ross W. Scott, an American YouTuber and consumer activist who is best known for his [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SQhfkpX9bc&list=PL6PNZBb6b9LvDWpI-5CPYUxG1Rnm-vr9V Freeman's Mind] series.
@@ Line 7: / Line 16: @@
 On April 16, 2024, a UK Parliament petition titled "Require videogame publishers to keep games they have sold in a working state"<ref name=":0">[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659071 "Require videogame publishers to keep games they have sold in a working state"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' December 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> began collecting signatures. The petition intended to create laws to prevent publishers from removing the ability to play games after purchase. The petition was subsequently closed on May 30, 2024 due to the UK general elections<ref name=":0" />, preventing further signatures. It reached 27,341 signatures and was originally scheduled to close on October 16, 2024<ref>[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-government-responds-to-stop-killing-games-campaign "UK government responds to Stop Killing Games campaign"] ''Games Industry.'' May 15, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref>.
-On January 14, 2025, Lewis Evans created a petition titled "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"<ref>[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/ "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref>  closely following the prematurely closed petition in 2024. It is yet to receive a government response and is due for one on January 30.
+On January 14, 2025, Lewis Evans created a petition titled "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"<ref name=":1">[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/ "Prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold"] ''UK Parliament Petitions.'' January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref>  closely following the prematurely closed petition in 2024. It is yet to receive a government response and is due for one on January 30.
+On February 3, 2025, The UK Government responded to the Petition, “There are no plans to amend UK consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, and we will continue to monitor this issue.”<ref name=":1" /> As of July 2nd, 2025, the petition reached the goal of 100,000 signatures to be considered for debate in the UK Parliament.
 ===European Citizens' Initiative===
-On June 19, 2024, "Stop Destroying Videogames"<ref>[https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007_en "Stop Destroying Videogames"] ''European Citizens' Initiative.'' 19 July, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref> was registered as a European Citizens' Initiative by Daniel Ondruska. A month and a half later, on July 31, 2024, the initiative began collecting signatures. Accursed Farms later posted the video "Europeans can save gaming!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMe9MxxZiI "Europeans can save gaming!"] ''Accursed Farms.'' July 31, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> on the same day, encouraging European citizens to sign the initiative. The deadline of the initiative is on July 31, 2025, and as of January 24, 2025, there are over 400,000 signatures.
+On June 19, 2024, "Stop Destroying Videogames"<ref>[https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007_en "Stop Destroying Videogames"] ''European Citizens' Initiative.'' 19 July, 2024. Retrieved on January 24, 2025.</ref> was registered as a European Citizens' Initiative by Daniel Ondruska. A month and a half later, on July 31, 2024, the initiative began collecting signatures. Accursed Farms posted the video "Europeans can save gaming!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMe9MxxZiI "Europeans can save gaming!"] ''Accursed Farms.'' July 31, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.</ref> later on the same day, encouraging European citizens to sign the initiative.
-<references />
+About a week later, Thor of Pirate Software published a video covering SKG, with the intent to negatively criticize SKG.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioqSvLqB46Y "Stop Killing Games" response video] ''Pirate Software.'' August 6, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2025.</ref> Ross from Accursed Farms attempted to contact Thor about having false assumptions of the campaign's objectives. Ross cited Pirate Software's video as the primary cause for signatures drying up on the European Citizens' Initiative petition. Ross stated that they did not initially make a response video directed at Thor, because "it might look like drama farming" for the campaign, but when the deadline started drawing near, Ross went through with making a response on June 23, 2025 as a last-ditch effort to save the campaign.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIfRLujXtUo "The end of Stop Killing Games"] ''Accursed Farms.'' June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.</ref>
+For a European citizens' initiative to be valid, it must obtain at least one million valid signatures and meet the minimum thresholds in at least seven countries. The deadline of the initiative is on July 31, 2025. As of June 25th, 2025, there are over 500,000 signatures and the threshold has passed for over ten countries.
+As of July 3, 2025, the European campaign has reached its goal of 1,000,000 signatures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stop Destroying Videogames |url=https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250703072953/https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home |archive-date=2025-07-03 |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=European Union Online Collection System}}</ref>
+==Video game preservation==
+{{Main|Video game preservation}}
+There are also efforts to restore older games, or to allow the community of games to have access to the source code of games themselves. In 2025 there were several developments by major publishers, such as [[Valve]] and [[EA]]. Valve released the source code of Team Fortress 2 in February.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 Feb 2025 |title=The TF2 SDK has arrived! |url=https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=238809 |access-date=10 Mar 2025 |website=Team Fortress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Valve Releases Team Fortress 2 Source Code, Now open to Modders |url=https://bitskins.com/blog/valve-releases-team-fortress-2-source-code-now-open-to-modders/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310111654/https://bitskins.com/blog/valve-releases-team-fortress-2-source-code-now-open-to-modders/ |archive-date=10 Mar 2025 |access-date=10 Mar 2025 |website=BitSkins}}</ref> EA released the source code of [[EA releases source code of classic command and conquer titles|classic command and conquer titles]], also in February 2025.
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
+[[Category:Consumer activism]]