What's The 'Stop Killing Games' Campaign? The Gamer's Petition To Prevent Publishers From Taking Titles Offline Explained

Gamers from all over the world are joining the Stop Killing Games campaign to seek a legal win that would stop developers from rendering online games unplayable. Games that are essentially online, co-op or require a connection to a server to be playable are susceptible to being shut down at any time if the publisher neither wants to continue supporting it nor offer players a way to play it offline or on private servers.

YouTuber Ross Scott is trying to change this status quo established in the gaming industry, front lining the Stop Killing Games Campaign, stating on its website the "assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media" this industry has been pressuring players, as he puts it.

Let's understand what the "Stop Killing Games" campaign is and how this could change the gaming industry.

What Is The "Stop Killing Games" Campaign?

The "Stop Killing Games" campaign was launched by YouTuber Ross Scott in early April 2024, aiming to stop the "practice of publishers destroying videogames they have sold to customers," as the website says. The campaign also states the gaming industry has been releasing games labeled as good, "but designed to be completely unplayable for everyone as soon as support ends."

To take legal action against this practice, "Stop Killing Games" is sending petitions to several Governments and authorities to "examine this behavior and hopefully end it, as it is an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media," as the website states.

Ross Scott, also known for his Accursed Farms YouTube channel, uploaded a video in which he officially launched the "Stop Killing Games" campaign on April 2nd, 2024. In this video (seen below, left), Ross summarizes the problem and discusses the plans and goals of the campaign, including what actions participants in various countries can take. Ross also uploaded a shorter, 50-second version of the video (seen below, right) to YouTube.^[7]

How Did The "Stop Killing Games" Campaign Went Viral?

Much of the buzz about the "Stop Killing Games" campaign can be attributed to Ross, some prominent YouTubers and The Crew fanbase, which was a game published by Ubisoft recently "destroyed for all players" that had a player base of at least "12 million people" according to the campaign website.

On April 4th, 2024, Mutahar Anas uploaded a video about the Stop Killing Games campaign to the SomeOrdinaryGamers YouTube channel, in which Mutahar discusses the trend of "always online" games and how to support the Stop Killing Games campaign (seen below).

For the full history of the 'Stop Killing Games' campaign, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.