Stop Killing Games Campaign Opens New Legal Avenue Through EU's Digital Fairness Act
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
As The Stop Killing Games petition closed with over 1.4 million EU signatures and nearly 190,000 in the UK, a new opportunity has emerged — one that could pave the way for actual legislation to prevent game publishers from permanently disabling titles consumers have purchased.
In a newly released video, YouTuber Ross Scott, the original creator of the Stop Killing Games campaign, highlighted a promising new front: the European Union’s Digital Fairness Act has entered its public commentary phase. This means that citizens across the EU — and even from some non-EU but EU-adjacent nations like Norway, Iceland, and Türkiye — can now submit feedback suggesting the inclusion of protections for digital games.
According to Ross, this isn’t just a shot in the dark. The strategy, reportedly supported by the BEUC (European Consumer Organisation) and unnamed policy insiders, aims to politely urge EU lawmakers to expand the Act to cover the issue of game preservation. While the Digital Fairness Act already targets "dark patterns," "addictive designs," and "gambling-like features" in digital services, it currently does not include any clauses about publishers shutting down paid games — something Stop Killing Games hopes to change.
“This isn’t meant to replace anything we’ve done so far — it’s an additional path forward,” Ross explained. The EU Citizens’ Initiative, consumer protection investigations, and grassroots advocacy efforts are all still active, but the Digital Fairness Act offers a more immediate and legislative route that could strengthen the campaign’s impact.
Comments can be submitted until October 9, 2025, and EU citizens are encouraged to write in their own words, rather than using a template, to avoid spam filters. Scott advises commenters to stay polite, share personal experiences if they have any, and specifically ask for protections against the permanent removal of games already sold to consumers.
The Digital Fairness Act addresses various exploitative practices in the digital space. Current issues on the docket include:
Dark patterns that manipulate users into purchases or decisions they don’t fully understand.
Addictive design features such as loot boxes and gambling mechanics.
Personalized targeting that exploits mental health or financial vulnerabilities.
Hard-to-cancel subscriptions and misleading user interfaces.
Influencer marketing abuses, particularly on social platforms.
Adding game shutdowns to this mix, Scott argues, fits naturally into the act’s consumer protection goals. “We’re trying to do is add a number six here [in the list],” he says. “If there's a chance we can piggyback our issue onto legislation that's already happening with or without us, we'll take it.”
"I mean, we're trying to keep Stop Killing Games contained to just the core issue, but with the industry lobbying against us, and taking a potshot at us behind the scenes, we'll take almost any help we can get," Scott added.
For those who missed the chance to sign the EU Citizens’ Initiative, this is a second chance to be heard. Here is the [link].
If the EU receives a flood of unique, heartfelt messages, Scott believes lawmakers will be forced to confront the issue of digital game destruction — something the industry has conveniently sidestepped for years.