“A game, once sold, belongs to the customer,” an EU Parliament VP said, confirming they’ve signed the Stop Killing Games initiative.
One of the vice presidents of the European Parliament, Nicolae Ștefănuță, has publicly expressed support for the Stop Killing Games initiative, marking a major step forward in the campaign to preserve access to digital games.
As first reported by Dexerto, Ștefănuță confirmed in an Instagram story posted on 12 July that he had signed the petition and pledged continued support.
“I stand with the people who started this citizen initiative. I signed and will continue to help them. A game, once sold, belongs to the customer, not the company,” Ștefănuță said in a video on Instagram (machine-translated from Romanian).
While his influence is currently limited, his backing could prove significant if the petition reaches the European Parliament. Should the initiative meet all thresholds and be successfully verified, Ștefănuță may play a role in presenting the case during parliamentary debate. His involvement also increases the likelihood that other EU lawmakers will take notice.
The initiative, launched by Ross Scott in April 2024 following Ubisoft’s shutdown of The Crew, is calling for legislation that would ensure games remain accessible in some form even after publishers remove official support.
The Stop Killing Games initiative has already surpassed the 1 million signatures required to become an official European Citizens’ Initiative, though it must still meet individual national minimums and undergo signature verification before being presented to the European Commission. The organisers say they are now aiming for 1.4 million signatures by 31 July to account for potentially invalid entries.
Scott has said that, if the petition meets the necessary requirements, “there is a very strong chance that the European Commission will pass new law” to improve consumer rights and support long-term game preservation. However, any resulting proposals would still need to go through the EU’s full legislative process before any changes could be implemented.
European game industry group pushes back against petition
Ștefănuță’s message of support came just one week after Video Games Europe, a trade body representing developers and publishers across the EU, released a statement pushing back against the initiative.
“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 group said. They noted that fair notice is usually given to players in line with consumer protection laws.
Video Games Europe also raised concerns over private servers and open access, arguing they could lead to data security risks and expose rights holders to legal issues. “These proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create,” the statement added.
The group said it was open to further discussion with policymakers and the organisers behind Stop Killing Games.
