The European video game lobby opposes demands of Stop Killing Games petition
, by Thibaut
Now in the spotlight after obtaining over 1.2 million signatures, the Stop Killing Games consumer movement is being scrutinized by industry professionals.
The aim of this initiative is to force publishers and developers to support their productions over the long term. Indeed, too many games such as The Crew, MultiVersus and others are no longer playable as their servers have been taken offline.
While most European gamers seem to be in favor of this request, the Video Games Europe group is not. This video game lobby has issued a press release setting out its reasons for opposing the petition. It points the finger at the excessive costs involved in keeping these games running, as well as the lack of protection on private servers.
"We appreciate the passion of our community; however, the decision to discontinue online services is multi-faceted, never taken lightly, and must be an option for companies when the online experience is no longer commercially viable."
"We understand that this can be disappointing for gamers, but when this happens, the industry ensures that gamers are informed in good time of the intended changes, in line with local consumer protection laws."
"Private servers are not always a viable solution for players. The safeguards we put in place to secure players' data, remove illegal content and combat dangerous community content would not exist, leaving rights-holders responsible."
"In addition, many titles are designed from the outset to be available online only; in fact, these proposals would limit developers' choice by making the cost of creating these video games prohibitive."