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Stop Killing Games has recently reached some major milestones in the European branch of its lengthy campaign for game preservation, but it still faces some roadblocks. Those obstacles include a new complaint filed with the EU which quite bizarrely suggests that the movement is guilty of "systematic concealment" of financial contributions because its figurehead spent too many hours volunteering to promote the campaign.
YouTuber Ross Scott founded the Stop Killing Games movement last year, with the intent of forcing game publishers to offer a way for players to run always-online games even after the official servers inevitably shut down. The idea was to simultaneously pursue every legal avenue to force regulators worldwide to take notice, but by far the biggest arm of the movement has been a European Citizens' Initiative that has now garnered over 1.4 million signatures.
That petition is now the subject of an anonymous complaint filed with the EU, accusing the initiative of a "false 'no funding' declaration" and "systematic concealment of major contribution." EU Citizens' Initiatives are required to report any funding "above EUR 500 per sponsor." The complaint says that Scott should be considered such a sponsor because he's spent too many hours promoting the campaign.
The complaint cites an interview Scott did with PC Gamer last month, where he said that "there have been many weeks on the campaign where I've been working 12 to 14 hours a day to keep things moving to get signatures." At a "market rate" of "€50-75/hour for campaign management/advocacy services," the complaint argues, Scott would then have offered "€63,000-147,000 in professional contribution," working out to a "contribution exceeding €500 threshold by 125-295 times."
Their argument, essentially, is that Scott's time should be accounted as a financial contribution. The issue, as Scott argues in a video running down the complaint, is that according to the EU's own rules, "individuals providing non-financial support, such as volunteering, are not considered sponsors under the ECI Regulation and do not need to be reported."
It's important to note that while Scott while has been heavily involved in promoting the EU petition, he's not technically involved in organizing it - as a US citizen, he isn't eligible to. "The official organizers literally asked EU representatives if it was okay for me to assist them in the capacity I have been back in spring of 2024," Scott explains, "just to make sure everything was above board in case there was a problem or we needed to report anything. They said what I've been doing is fine. We've been doing this by the book, guys."
The complaint was filed anonymously and could have come from anyone, though Scott seems certain that it comes from somewhere within the game industry. I'd have to think any major publisher would have put a more airtight case together, but the campaign is certainly facing pushback from industry groups. We'll find out what the EU itself has to say about Stop Killing Games as a whole some time after the Citizens' Initiative comes to a close on July 31.
