The Growing Movement Against Game Discontinuation
The Stop Killing Games campaign has gained significant traction in recent weeks, even making an appearance at a publisher’s shareholder meeting. With over 1.4 million signatures supporting the initiative, the EU petition titled “Stop Destroying Videogames” now has a real chance of prompting regulatory action. However, one of the campaign’s most vocal supporters, YouTuber Ross “Accursed Farms” Scott, claims that someone is trying to undermine the effort through false allegations.
In a recent video, Scott revealed that an anonymous complaint was sent to the EU Commission, alleging that the “Stop Destroying Videogames” petition violates disclosure rules. The complaint argues that while the petition states it has no funding sources, Scott’s ongoing promotion of it amounts to professional contributions from a foreign entity. According to the complaint, the €500 disclosure threshold is exceeded by approximately 125-295 times through Scott’s undisclosed professional time contribution, which could represent the largest single source of campaign support.
The argument hinges on estimating the value of Scott’s time at between $55 and $85 per hour, with up to nearly 2,000 hours of work. This results in a non-monetary contribution ranging from $73,000 to $170,000, as claimed by the complaint. These estimates are based on Scott’s YouTube channel and an interview he gave to PC Gamer, where he said, “I’ve been running a rickshaw carrying people to the destination.” However, the complaint does not include an estimate for Scott’s hourly rickshaw rate.
Throughout his latest video, Scott emphasized that while he supports the EU petition, he is not one of its organizers, and the movement is not a “hive mind.” He explained that the official organizers had previously asked EU representatives if it was okay for him to assist them in the capacity he has been, just to ensure everything was above board. According to Scott, the EU representatives responded, “What I’ve been doing is fine.” He insists that the campaign has been conducted properly.
It remains unclear who is behind the anonymous complaint. It could be someone representing video game companies in Europe whose lobbying entity previously rejected the petition’s demands as too onerous and unworkable. Alternatively, it might be a random internet user with a personal grudge against Scott, given the ongoing debate about the merits of the Stop Killing Games movement.
The movement originally began with the decommissioning of Ubisoft’s The Crew. Recently, the company’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, was questioned about the movement during its annual shareholder meeting. He stated, “The lifespan of a piece of software, whenever there’s a service component, eventually services may be discontinued because eventually the software may become obsolete over time. A lot of tools become obsolete 10 or 15 years down the line. They’re no longer available. And that is why we release a new version. And so we have version two and then version three. But clearly this is a far-reaching issue, and we are working on it.”
The EU petition is currently in a strong position to push for real action on the issue. According to its organizers, the petition aims to prevent the remote disabling of videogames by publishers before providing reasonable means for the games to continue functioning without the involvement of the publisher. If at least 1 million signatures are proven to be authentic, the EU Commission will be required to address the group’s demands within a six-month period, even if it ultimately decides not to create a new regulatory framework around them.
For the latest updates, follow the campaign on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
