Gamers Win Voice in EU After 1.3M Sign Petition

When Ubisoft shut down The Crew racing game in 2024, they didn't just end support. They made every copy ever sold completely unplayable, even for people who'd owned it for nearly a decade.

That decision sparked something the gaming industry didn't see coming. American YouTuber Ross Scott launched Stop Killing Games, a consumer rights campaign challenging the practice of publishers shutting down online games and leaving customers with nothing.

The campaign just reached a major milestone. In January, the group submitted nearly 1.3 million signatures to the European Commission, triggering a public hearing in the European Parliament scheduled for April.

For players like Chemicalflood, who spent nearly 10 years playing The Crew with his kids, the shutdown felt like theft. "You buy a physical copy of a game, you bring it home and install it, you play it for some time," explained Whammy4, a gamer who helped preserve The Crew after shutdown. "Then all of a sudden the publisher completely destroys all copies worldwide, including yours."

The campaign isn't asking companies to keep servers running forever. Instead, they want publishers to create "end-of-life plans" like updating games to work offline or releasing software that lets players continue running them.

The gaming industry has pushed back hard. Video Games Europe, representing major publishers, argues shutting down online services "must be an option" when games are no longer profitable. Ubisoft defended itself in court by saying customers purchased a license to use the game, not unlimited ownership rights.

But the campaigners are making progress on multiple fronts. In March, French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir launched legal action against Ubisoft over The Crew's shutdown. The European Commission must respond to the petition by July 27.

The Ripple Effect

This campaign is reshaping how the gaming industry thinks about customer rights. The fact that 1.3 million people signed a petition about video game preservation shows consumers are ready to push back against digital ownership erosion.

The issue affects more than just gamers. As more products become online-dependent, from smart home devices to cars, the question of what happens when companies shut down services matters to everyone.

Scott's message is simple but powerful: "I just hate seeing creative works effectively destroyed." What began as one person's frustration has become a movement forcing billion-dollar companies to reconsider their relationship with customers.

The European Parliament will soon decide whether to turn this grassroots campaign into actual consumer protection.

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