A new European Citizens' Initiative, entitled 'Stop Destroying Video Games,' has accumulated over 400,000 signatures and counting. The online petition calls for publishers to ensure that games are left in a playable state when they shut down . The Crew was left completely unplayable after servers closed last year, and with a range of new games requiring an online connection or online authentication to even be played, including behemoths like Diablo 4, gamers are worried about the future of their favorite titles.
With a constant stream of videogames releasing, it makes sense that developers and publishers will eventually stop ing their older endeavors. However, some games become entirely unplayable once for them stops, meaning those who have purchased them are locked out of something they've purchased.
started a campaign after the fiasco, pushing for publishers to stop "destroying" games.
A similar comparison is Gran Turismo Sport, which had its servers shut down in January 2024. While the single player mode is still accessible, progress cannot be saved without a connection to a now non-existent server.
The always-online requirement continues to cause ripples within the videogame community, especially when it affects single-player games. Diablo 4, which released back in 2022, requires an internet connection to boot the game at all, even if you're only planning to play the campaign. This suggests that, when servers inevitably shut down for the game later on down the line, players wont be able to access it. 
The petition calls for publishers and developers to ensure that games are in a playable state. More specifically it asks to "prevent the remote disabling of videogames by the publishers, before providing reasonable means to continue functioning of said videogames without the involvement from the side of the publisher."
This means the petition isn't asking for game servers to be left online indefinitely – an ask which is just unrealistic – but instead is pushing for games to still be accessible when servers are offline.
With currently over 420,000 signatures, the petition might just hit its one million target – the deadline is Thursday July 31, after all. If that happens, it'll then be considered by the European Commission. You can find more information on the petition over on the ECI website.
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