Stop Killing Games Petition Surpasses 1.3 Million Verified Signatures, Exceeding EU Requirements

Moritz Katzner, a volunteer for the Stop Killing Games initiative, recently provided an update on the significant European Union Citizens’ Initiative via its official subreddit. The EU has confirmed an impressive total of 1,294,188 valid signatures out of the 1,448,270 gathered, surpassing the necessary one million signatures required to proceed further.

In an infographic detailing the signature breakdown by country, Katzner noted that the team had originally intended to release this information closer to their upcoming meeting with the EU Commission. However, he explained that this early announcement was made to avoid presenting their case unprepared, inadvertently sharing details with lobbyists, or, most importantly, risking team burnout.

Community Engagement and Patience Requested

Katzner urged supporters to exercise patience with the volunteer team managing Stop Killing Games. “You’re not communicating with an abstract entity like the EU; you’re interacting with real individuals,” he emphasized. He added a personal touch by mentioning that one of the moderators was about to unwind by playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 after a hectic week.

In the comments section, user MikeyIfYouWanna estimated that approximately 89% of the submitted signatures were authentic. Katzner concurred with this assessment, stating that Stop Killing Games boasts one of the lowest rates of invalid signatures among EU Citizens’ Initiatives.

Signatures and Success Rates

“We are currently at roughly 10%, while the best initiatives generally see failure rates between 10% and 15%, placing us in a strong position,” Katzner elaborated. He highlighted that some initiatives experience rejection rates as high as 20% to 25% but still manage to succeed, although the overall sample size is limited, with only 11 initiatives to date.

The Stop Killing Games movement emerged in response to the troubling trend of game publishers discontinuing support for live service or network-dependent games, effectively cutting off access for players who have already paid for them. Their primary demand is not for perpetual support but rather for end-of-life measures to ensure continued player access—fan servers being a prime example.

Industry Opposition and Popularity

Despite facing some resistance from within the industry, as suggested by Katzner’s reference to lobbyists, the initiative has gained substantial support from gamers around the globe. EU Citizens’ Initiatives empower citizens to directly propose new laws or regulations for consideration by the European Commission. Previous successful initiatives include one aimed at phasing out caged farming practices in EU nations and another focused on establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right.

Katzner also shared a comprehensive list of verified signatures by country:

• Austria – 20,714
• Belgium – 31,846
• Bulgaria – 14,238
• Croatia – 14,403
• Cyprus – 1,997
• Czech Republic – 25,935
• Denmark – 36,010
• Estonia – 9,296
• Finland – 54,538
• France – 145,289
• Germany – 233,180
• Greece – 19,618
• Hungary – 25,595
• Ireland – 36,073
• Italy – 77,030
• Latvia – 7,526
• Lithuania – 14,461
• Luxembourg – 2,465
• Malta – 2,007
• Netherlands – 90,413
• Poland – 143,826
• Portugal – 31,585
• Romania – 38,221
• Slovakia – 18,628
• Slovenia – 6,520
• Spain – 121,616
• Sweden – 71,158