The “Stop Killing Games” initiative is taking the next steps and had the opportunity to speak with Members of the European Parliament. Meanwhile, more should happen than just the offline mode.
What is it about? The citizens’ initiative around Stop Killing Games made a lot of noise in 2025. Almost 1.3 million EU citizens signed the initiative in favor of preserving video games.
This goal has been achieved, and the EU Commission is now legally obligated to address the issue. The authorities have until July 27, 2026, to provide an official response and decide whether and which new consumer protection laws, such as a requirement for end-of-life patches or an offline mode, will be drafted.
However, serious discussions have already taken place.
Can you actually bequeath your Steam account?
YouTubers in Brussels
What were those discussions about? YouTubers Ross “Accursed Farms” and Josh Strife, along with other supporters of the initiative, were in February in the EU Parliament in Brussels. There, they officially spoke with Members of Parliament about their project and also held a press conference.
One constant hurdle is that Members of Parliament are often not hardcore gamers, and the initiators must first explain to them why the topic is so important. Here, the YouTubers found good conversation partners especially with the Pirate Party, as they frequently deal with IT issues.
However, there have not yet been any tangible results from the discussions. Josh Strife explains in the video that the visit to the Parliament and the discussions aim to raise awareness of the problem among the politicians and to find allies.
In his video on YouTube, he also provides a positive conclusion to the visit, although some viewers had hoped for more:
My goal is to clearly define expectations on both the political side and among the players. If I succeed in that, I will be satisfied. I tried to explain it to people in exactly that way: After the stream, some people came up to me and said:
Josh Strife on YouTubeI can’t believe the stream went so poorly.My response was:On the contrary – it went brilliantly.
How will it proceed? For the movement against the lobby of video game publishers to take off, there is a new plan. Two NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are to emerge from the initiative in the USA and the EU. Their long-term goal should be to advocate for digital consumer rights and the preservation of games as cultural assets through professional lobbying.
This way, even more rights for gamers could be demanded and promoted by the NGO in the future.
At the same time, the industry resists, continuing to argue that a requirement for the preservation of games would make live-service games unpredictably more expensive – also in terms of licenses for music and trademarks.
It is likely that there will be a final response from the European authorities only at the end of July 2026. Until then, many more discussions between YouTubers and helpers with parliamentarians will be necessary to ultimately enforce their desired outcome. The rights of gamers are always a topic: Players who spend money on flops like Concord or Anthem should be better protected – fans of New World feel this
