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European gaming industry lobby Video Games Europe has shared a response to Stop Killing Games after it recently reached one million signatures, and it’s sadly not as supportive as you’d hope.
As video games have moved further and further into online services, one major issue has started to rear its head for gamers – the games they play eventually getting killed or shut down. There are tons of notable examples of this, from figureheads like The Crew and Concord to smaller games like Knockout City. While some are lucky enough to have offline modes, many just cease to exist.
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This major downside to the current state of gaming has resulted in an interesting consumer movement popping up – Stop Killing Games. As the name implies, the movement, which was set up by YouTuber Accursed Farms, aims to change the legality of games being taken offline, something that’s become so unpopular that Stop Killing Games recently reached one million signatures.
Video Games Europe says keeping games online should be a “matter of choice” for publishers
“There is no legal uncertainty about the status quo of video games”
Although Stop Killing Games is already aiming for more than one million signatures to ensure as much success as possible, the movement has clearly captured the attention of the gaming industry. As reported by DSOGaming, Video Games Europe, a gaming lobby that speaks for the industry in Europe, has shared a statement in response to Stop Killing Games and its goals.
The five-page response was shared shortly after Stop Killing Games reached its big milestone, and it starts by saying that the decision to take a game offline is “multi-faceted” and “never taken lightly”. VGE says that players are always given “fair notice” of the changes being made to their games, which is “in compliance with the local consumer protection laws”.
Unlike a book, or a film, an online video game is not a static work. Online video games are interactive entertainment. – Video Games Europe
Video Games Europe says that the high monetary and time cost of developing a game is justified by the right to decide how long a game is kept alive. The lobby says that “video game companies must remain free to decide” when a game isn’t commercially viable anymore, and that legally changing that will “raise the costs and risks of developing such games”.
The rest of the response is worth reading, and mostly outlines the legal and financial decisions involved in keeping a game going once it’s reached the end of its life, from player safety to intellectual property rights. Considering Video Games Europe works within the gaming industry (and isn’t part of the European Union), it’s not too surprising a statement.
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