Stop Killing Games (SKG) is a consumer movement with the goal of preserving video games after they are taken offline. The movement was started in 2024 by Ross Scott after the shutdown of Ubisoft's The Crew, a racing game that required a constant internet connection despite being mainly single-player. A central concern of the movement involves online-only games and downloadable content being listed on storefronts prominently as a purchase, instead of as a rent or lease, despite the possibility of access being remotely denied to the purchaser (without an expiration date at the time of purchase) by the publisher unilaterally.
The movement quickly gathered popularity, being covered by various YouTubers and news outlets. The movement has launched multiple government petitions, of which the most prominent is an European Citizens' Initiative named Stop Destroying Videogames.
Background
The Crew was a 2014 racing game developed by Ubisoft Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections, published by Ubisoft. It required a constant internet connection to play, including in single-player mode; attempting to launch the game offline resulted in an error screen.[1] By December 14, 2023, Ubisoft delisted the game and its expansions from digital platforms, suspended sales of microtransactions, and announced that the game's servers would be shut down on March 31, 2024, citing "upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints".[2] The servers were shut down as planned on that date. When the shutdown was announced on December 14, 2023, Ubisoft did offer refunds to people who "recently" purchased The Crew.[3] In early April 2024, days after the shutdown, Ubisoft began revoking licenses from players who had bought The Crew.[4][5][6]
The UK government responded to the Parliament petition, stating that "there is no requirement in UK law compelling software companies and providers to support older versions of their operating systems, software or connected products".[17][18] On May 30, 2024, the petition was cut short due to the calling of the 2024 general election in the country. A new petition was started, quickly gaining over 10,000 signatures, which was the amount needed for a guaranteed response for the government. In February 2025, the UK government responded to the new petition, stating that it had "no plans to amend consumer law on digital obsolescence", but pointing out that "if consumers are led to believe that a game will remain playable indefinitely for certain systems, despite the end of physical support, the CPR may require that the game remains technically feasible [...] to play under those circumstances".[19][20]
In May 2025, Scott published a spreadsheet containing various online-only video games and their playability status. According to the spreadsheet, 68% out of the 731 games were either unplayable or at risk. Only 16 games that were playable after discontinuation have been salvaged by the developers, with the other 110 being fan-preserved.[21]
While the European Citizens Initiative gained a lot of signatures at the start, it quickly lost momentum, stagnating at around 450,000 signatures, which was 45% of the amount needed for Commission representatives to take action. In June 2025, Scott uploaded a video, expecting the initiative to fail and outlining that the problem with the insufficient signatures "isn't getting gamers to care about games; it's getting people to care about anything".[22][23] However, contrary to Scott's predictions, support for the initiative increased greatly after the release of the video. On July 2, 2025, the UK Parliament petition reached 100,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered for debate in Parliament.[24][25] One day later on July 3, 2025, the European Citizens' Initiative reached 1 million signatures, meaning it might be considered for debate in the European Commission. However, Scott stated that more signatures are still needed to counteract invalid ones, which are to be deducted.[26][27] Consequently, an additional target of 1.4 million signatures was set, which was subsequently achieved on July 20, 2025.[28][29] Scott also mentioned a cryptocurrency under the title of Stop Killing Games, stating that it has nothing to do with him and the campaign and calling it a "scam".[30]
On July 21, 2025, Scott uploaded a video, where he revealed that a transparency complaint has been filed against the EU petition, accusing the campaign of failing to "provide clear, accurate and comprehensive information on the sources of funding for the initiative exceeding €500 per sponsor". Scott rejected the claim, noting having no financial support on the EU petition and claiming that the organizers "literally asked EU representatives if it was okay for [him] to assist them in the capacity [he] have been back in spring 2024... [and] they said what [he has] been doing is fine". He also stated that the EU petition is separate from the Stop Killing Games campaign and has its own organisers, of whom he is not a part of. While the complaint was filed anonymously, Scott suspects video game industry representatives to be behind it.[31][32]
On July 29, 2025, Scott uploaded a video encouraging viewers to send feedback to the EU's Digital Fairness Act public consultation.[33] On July 31, 2025, the Stop Destroying Videogames European Citizens Initiative closed,[34] with a final signature count of approx. 1,448,271 signatures.[35] Initial validation of the signature by the initiative estimated that 97% of the signatures were valid, making it likely the petition would require addressing by the EU. [36]
On August 4, Scott uploaded a video, opining that the movement has "changed the timeline, or is attempting to" and that "without [SKG], The Crew would have been just another shutdown", noting the lack of response from various previously discontinued games, most notably Overwatch. He also revealed that he hasn't "had time to play a game for close to a couple months", stating that he aims to go on a "standby break" from the campaign.[37][38][39]
(right) Jason Hall who has criticised the movement
Upon the release of the Stop Killing Games introduction video in 2024, it quickly gained views and was covered by multiple gaming news outlets and YouTubers.[11] However, when then-prominent streamer PirateSoftware (Jason Hall) criticized the movement in a video on his YouTube channel, that momentum quickly stagnated. On June 23, 2025, after Hall had repeatedly refused subsequent attempts at clarification from Scott, the latter publicly criticized Hall's video, stating that the former didn't understand the purpose of the campaign and that he had misconstrued the initiative.[23] Several other YouTubers, such as Cr1TiKaL, have come out in defense of Scott, sharing many of the same criticisms against Hall.[40]
Sergio Ferrera, intellectual property lawyer and writer for Gamesindustry.biz, opined that, while the petition has good intentions, it "runs the risk of doing more damage than good" and that "for real change to happen, proposals must reflect the realities of IP law, contract obligations, and server infrastructure", noting the difficulty of converting a server-dependent game to work offline as well as potential legal issues with licensed content and proprietary middleware.[47]
In July 2025, Video Games Europe, a trade association representing game developers and publishers in the European Union, responded to the European Citizens' Initiative, stating that it would be "too expensive for developers and publishers to offer private servers or single-player modes in games that lose online multiplayer support" and that fan-supported games and servers "could present legal liabilities for companies".[48][49]
In an interview with TheGamer, Randy Pitchford, president and CEO of Gearbox Software, expressed his appreciation for the movement, noting to have experienced the shutdown of Battleborn and calling it an "emotional experience", while stating that he "[admires] the activism", opining that "it comes from the same heart that [he has], which is a heart that loves experiences that are worthy and just wants to make sure they're there forever."[50][51][52]
Mark Darrah, former BioWare employee and producer of the soon to be discontinued game Anthem, stated that while he does "believe in game preservation" and that the game could have been built with preservation in mind, mentioning Destiny 2'speer-to-peer hosting system as an example, the game likely would "have been a worse experience" because of potential additional spendings on game preservation that could be spent elsewhere, opining that with SKG "there are consequences to basically mandating that things not go away forever, but maybe those are consequences that we want to pay, that we want to accept".[53][54]
Ubisoft
Yves Guillemot (pictured in 2010) is the chairman and CEO of Ubisoft.
Ubisoft initially refused to comment on the situation with The Crew.[11] After severe player backlash—fueled in part by the initiative launched by Stop Killing Games, according to PC Gamer—Ubisoft promised to add an offline mode to The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, though the discontinued The Crew was not mentioned.[16][55][56] In April 2025, Ubisoft released an update video on the upcoming offline mode for The Crew 2, stating that not all features will be available offline and that the mode playtesting will begin on 30 April.[57][58][59] The offline mode for Motorfest is still planned.[60]
In July 2025, CEO of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot responded to a shareholder's question about Stop Killing Games, stating that the company provides "information regarding the game and how long the game can be played" and that the company is "doing [their] best to make sure that things go well for all players and buyers", clarifying that "support for all games cannot last forever."[61] The response was negatively received, with various users and news sources pointing out that the goal of the movement is to ensure game playability after discontinuation instead of a demand for perpetual support.[62][63][64]
Law
Assembly Bill No. 2426
In September 2024, a new Californian law AB 2426[65] was signed that forces digital storefronts to disclose what the user is getting after making a transaction to access digital goods, making it illegal to use the terms "buy" and "purchase" while only providing a license that can be revoked at any time—a practice common among digital storefronts.[66][67][68] The law does not extend to games that can be played offline permanently.[67][69] The law came to effect in January 1, 2025.[70] In October 2024, Steam added a disclaimer that a game purchase only grants a license.[71][72]GOG.com, a DRM-free storefront, responded to the law by posting a concept banner that states that GOG's offline game installers "cannot be taken away".[73][74]
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