Stop Killing Games and the Meeting That Smells of Lobbying at the European Commission

The Stop Killing Games movement denounces that Ubisoft's CEO met privately with the European Commission just before it responded to a citizens' initiative against the deactivation of purchased games. The coincidence is striking: citizens gather signatures and the Commission listens to the head of a company accused of abusive practices. It's not illegal, but it is profoundly indecent.

photorealistic cinematic scene of a locked steel gate with a broken game disc jammed inside, a suited executive whispering through the gate to a European Commission official while citizens outside hold petition papers and a digital clock shows a countdown, during a private meeting in a dark Brussels corridor, office lamps casting long shadows, laptop with game server shutdown warning on screen, abandoned gaming mouse and keyboard on a table, dramatic chiaroscuro lighting, ultra-detailed textures of metal and plastic, technical illustration style

Rental disguised as digital ownership 🎮

When you buy a digital game, you are actually acquiring a temporary usage license. Companies can revoke it at any time, as Ubisoft did with The Crew, which disappeared from users' libraries without compensation. Technically, the servers are shut down and the game dies. Stop Killing Games calls for legislation so that these products continue to work even after official support ends. Digital ownership remains a vague and fragile concept.

Lobby wins by a landslide, and players lose the game ⚖️

While citizens gather signatures with the illusion of changing something, Ubisoft's boss has coffee with Brussels bureaucrats and fixes the mess. The Commission then says it has studied all sides, of course. But one thing is listening to millions of players, and quite another is listening to someone who can afford the flight and the lawyer. The game is not killed only by companies: it is killed by politicians who prefer the red carpet to the complaint counter.