The Stop Killing Games campaign is celebrating a major win this week as the EU petition that's been at the movement's heart has come to a successful close. For now, it's time to do a lot of waiting as the wheels of government slowly turn, and the movement's founder is most of all looking forward to taking an overdue break from the grind.
"I think what we've done with Stop Killing Games has actually changed the timeline, or is attempting to," says YouTuber Ross Scott in a new wrap-up video on the movement. He cites a pile of older game shutdowns, including the death of Overwatch 1 in favor of Overwatch 2, which came and went without much fanfare.
"I feel certain [that] without us, The Crew would have been just another shutdown, like Darkspore, BattleForge, PlanetSide, Asheron's Call, [and] Dust 514," Scott says. "I mean, if any game was going to get people motivated, I would think it would be Overwatch. It sold over 50 million copies, was destroyed, and people just accepted it, best I can tell. I think it didn't have the same legal openings that The Crew did, but there wasn't an upswell that led to any big action that I'm aware of."
The EU Citizens' Initiative that Stop Killing Games inspired closed on July 31, having earned 1.4 million signatures – well above its goal of 1 million. The process will now see the organizers of the petition meet with representatives of the European Commission and present their concerns at a hearing in front of the European Parliament. The Commission will then recommend which, if any, actions should be taken, potentially including new legislation.
"Since the signing period is over, we're entering a phase where things like counter lobbying and political connections are most important," explains Scott, who as an American is not among the EU petition's organizers. "Frankly, that is not my department. I know nothing about that, though some political insiders do, and they're advising the official organizers. I'm not even aware of all their plans."
A month ago, it seemed that even the EU Citizens' Initiative was likely to fizzle out, but that's when Scott posted a video called "the end of Stop Killing Games," which ironically took off to give the campaign a whole new life. "When I made the first end video," Scott now says, "I thought I would get a break afterwards. Nope. It's been unending overtime, because like hell I was going to miss the opportunity to actually turn this around."
Clearly, Scott is ready for a break. "I've said before I've kind of hated doing all of this," he explains. "It's just been a competing scale of knowing I would hate myself more if I quit at a critical juncture." Scott hopes to soon go on "a standby break where if something important happens where I need to do something, yeah, I'll drop everything and do it." But for now, there's still work to be done.
"Right now, I feel like I want to take a break for the next 10 years," Scott says. "I probably don't need to, or can't really. Maybe I only need a couple days. I have no way of telling anymore. You know that life-draining machine from The Princess Bride? Yeah, I feel like I might have had a round or two on that."
