Don't turn off those servers: how is the Stop Killing Games campaign going?

What happens to an online video game when it stops being played? In most cases, it simply disappears. And with it goes the chance for millions of players to relive an interactive experience that often marked an era. Against this 'digital death', the Stop Killing Games movement has risen up, a grassroots initiative to demand that video games should no longer be cancelled altogether once their commercial cycle is over.

It was Ross Scott, youtuber and creator of the popular 'Freeman's Mind' format, who launched the movement a year ago. The occasion was the final shutdown of The Crew, an online driving simulator published in 2014 by Ubisoft and which over time had reached a player base of around 12 million. When Ubisoft decided to shut down the servers in 2024, the game became completely unusable, even in single-player mode. For many, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The Stop Killing Games campaign proposes a common sense solution: guaranteeing access to video games even after the end of commercial support. How? In three ways: by offering offline modes, by allowing the use of private servers, or by releasing essential code to the public, to allow fans to keep them alive on their own.

The appeal was widely supported. The online petition launched by Scott has exceeded one million signatures. The aim now is to take the issue to the institutional level, to the European Commission, with the ambition of obtaining legislation that forces publishers to consider the preservation of games as a cultural as well as a commercial duty.

But the problem is, as is often the case, economic. Keeping servers running costs money. And the gaming industry, although expanding globally, is going through a difficult period, marked by layoffs, mergers and increasing pressure on margins.