Gamers are taking publishers to task over online games that can be killed after punters have already paid.
According to the BBC The Stop Killing Games campaign wants publishers to stop switching off servers in ways that make games unplayable.
It was started in 2024 by American YouTuber Ross Scott after Ubisoft pulled the plug on The Crew. The racing game launched in 2014, attracted more than 12 million players and was discontinued in 2024.
Ubisoft blamed “upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints” which basically meant it could not be bothered paying the server bill. Players such as Chemicalflood, who had played The Crew for nearly a decade, saw it rather differently.
“I was around 18 at the time of the launch – it was a big part of my adult life growing up. It was a great escape from hardship at the time, so it has always been something special to me,” he said.
Chemicalflood later shared the game with his children, who explored its virtual version of the United States.
“The shutdown itself wasn’t upsetting. But how they handled it was the kick in the teeth.”
Scott, known online as Accursed Farms, had already been banging on about game ownership for years.
“I just hate seeing creative works effectively destroyed,” Scott said.
He said the “killing” happens when “every copy of that game that’s ever been sold has been disabled, and no one on the planet can run it”.
The Crew Unlimited founder Whammy4 compared it with “someone just breaking into your home and stealing your bike or your car”.
“You buy a physical copy of a game, you bring it home and install the game, you play it for some amount of time. Then all of a sudden the publisher completely destroys all copies of the game worldwide, including yours. No refunds, no actual heads-up at the time of purchase, and nothing you can do to keep it at all,” he said.
Ubisoft has defended itself in court, arguing that customers bought a licence rather than unlimited ownership rights. The studio said players had been warned online services would not last forever, which is handy once the thing you bought has vanished.
A proposed California class action from two The Crew players was dismissed without prejudice in June 2025 after the plaintiffs withdrew it.
Games lobby outfit Video Games Europe said shutting down online services “must be an option” when games are no longer commercially viable. It warned that campaign demands could make online-only games much more expensive to build.
“In no way are we asking companies to keep servers running or services going, they can end it any time they want,” Scott said.
Campaigners want responsible end-of-life plans, such as offline patches or software that lets players run games themselves. The row has grown as live-service games have spread across the industry like a rash with a season pass.
Sony said in May that it would discontinue support for multiplayer title Destruction AllStars. Its live-service shooter Concord was taken offline less than two weeks after launch in 2024, although buyers got refunds.
NYU Stern games business professor Joost van Dreunen said live-service games are closer to digital communities than simple products.
“Games, especially live-service games, are more like digital communities and much less so consumable experiences,” he said.
But communities cost money, and publishers often shut servers when players drift towards Fortnite, Call of Duty and other giant attention hoovers.
“Every new live-service game invents its own demise,” van Dreunen said.
Stop Killing Games has now landed in the European Parliament after a petition drew nearly 1.3 million signatures. The European Commission must respond to the European Citizens’ Initiative by 27 July.
French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir has sued Ubisoft over The Crew shutdown, claiming players were misled about the permanence of their purchase. The UK government has resisted new laws, despite a petition passing 100,000 signatures and securing a parliamentary debate.
“Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, and we will continue to monitor this issue,” ministers said.
In the US, campaigners are backing California’s proposed Protect Our Games Act, which would require publishers to keep games playable or offer refunds. The bill has passed the California State Assembly and is now with the State Senate.
