The Stop Killing Games campaign, which has now surpassed 1.4 million signatures of European Union official petition players and continues to grow in support, is causing a shock throughout the game industry. This consumer advocacy initiative aims to prevent game developers from closing down the servers that have been sold, and its rapid development has led to large game developers like needles.
The European Games Industry Lobby claims that the campaign, if successful, would have a “cooling effect” and that the Precious CEO would have been so forthright that “no game will ever operate”. Youtuberros Scott, a well-known core figure of the game protection movement, claims that European petitions are being “seriously accused” and “falsely accused” of violating EU regulations.
Ross Scott revealed in YouTube that the “Stop the murder game” initiative, which focuses on European affairs, was “seriously charged by anonymous sources”. In particular, the organization was accused of not disclosing “a breakdown of funds in excess of Euro500/sponsors” in a transparency complaint, of submitting a “false zero-money statement” in a petition and of “systematic concealment of significant contributions”.
The game of cessation of destruction is based on the EU Citizenship Initiative, which allows citizens to submit legislative proposals to the European Commission. Its core claim is to promote legislation prohibiting “the remote closure of game servers by game distributors without providing a reasonable off-line operation programme”.
The number of signatures currently exceeded 1.4 million, well above the threshold of one million required for submission to the European Union. A protocol-compliant petition will enter a European Parliament hearing or debate, and the actual number of signatures has reserved a buffer space to remove invalid signatures. However, this complaint could be a variable.
At the heart of the allegation is that Ross Scott’s working hours as a volunteer for the Initiative “are far beyond reasonable range” and that his “professional time input constitutes a quantifiable contribution in kind”. The complainant, based on the sporadic statements and assumptions of Ross Scott, declared his contribution to be worth between 63,000 and 147,000 euros and failed to declare that it violated European Union regulations.
The controversy focused on the allegation that the data were purely speculative: a hypothetical salary of Euro50-75 per hour was calculated on the basis of “weeks” lasting 12-14 hours per day. Scott rebuts that “this intensity has already killed me,” although he admits that “sometimes” do spend 12-14 hours a day. “If I were a fee-paying professional, I might say something else,” he stressed, “but it was purely voluntary.” Scott also clarified that he was only a “producer” of the initiative and “no substantive authority” for decision-making: “just a sense of mission to solve the problem of game destruction.”
The anchor denied the allegations in their entirety, stating that the funding was in the amount of zero euros and revealing that the organizers of the “Stop the Murder Games” in the spring of 2024 had consulted with representatives of the European Union and had been granted the modalities for their participation. The key issue is the actual impact of the complaint. Although Ross Scott suggested that there could be “serious consequences”, the EUCSI official network simply indicated that the Commission would “recognize the facts and request an amendment to the financial information of the organizers” and did not mention specific penalties.
It is a matter of concern that this anonymous complaint came after the European lobby had spoken. The anchor thus asserted that it was an industry “spoiled” attempt to block political support through “smuggling water”. He says: “The moment of the complaint comes immediately after an industry lobby has issued a complaint. Following the black rhetoric, some of the statements were false. Although it is not possible to confirm the source, this EU document, which alleges that the initiative is illegal, is no small matter and it is clear that the industry is starting to play tricks.” In conclusion, he also stressed that “it is a sign that we have shaken the pattern of interests and that we must stay the course”.
It is worth noting that last year, Phoebe closed down the Hot Motors server and accidentally gave rise to the Stop Murder Games campaign. When asked about this at the recent meeting of shareholders, CEO Gillemo responded: “We try to protect the player’s rights, but the game cannot operate permanently. This is indeed a far-reaching issue that we are dealing with.”
