Stop Killing Games EU Parliament Highlights

Full Unedited Debate    • Stop Killing Games EU Parliament Full Plen...   Highlights from the European Parliament plenary debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames”, widely known as Stop Killing Games, held on 21 May 2026. This is an edited (transformative) version created to improve accessibility. Edits that add transformative value include cutting repetition, silences, and stutters; restructuring the content by theme and topic; adding on-screen context; and enhancing video and audio quality. This edited version does not distort the meaning or message of the original video. The debate focused on whether video game publishers should be allowed to remotely disable games that consumers have paid for, especially when online servers are shut down or support ends. Members of the European Parliament discussed consumer rights, digital ownership, game preservation, the European video game industry, online services, licensing models, and the need for fair and transparent rules in the EU Digital Single Market. The Stop Killing Games initiative, supported by nearly 1.3 million European citizens, calls for games to remain functional after the end of their commercial life cycle, without requiring publishers to provide endless support or free updates. Several speakers compared the issue to planned obsolescence, the right to repair, digital cultural heritage, and the wider question of what ownership means when games are sold as licences or online services. This edited highlight version includes key moments from MEPs and the European Commission, including interventions from Anna Cavazzini, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Bogdan Rzońca, Milan Uhrík, Reinier Van Lanschot, Jörgen Warborn, Catarina Vieira, Tiemo Wölken, Lukas Sieper, Markéta Gregorová, Nikola Minchev, Maria Ohisalo, and Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas. The debate also touched on the balance between protecting gamers and avoiding disproportionate burdens on developers and smaller studios. Speakers raised questions about transparency before purchase, advance notice before games go offline, community-hosted servers, modding, preservation, copyright, piracy, and the role of the upcoming Digital Fairness Act. Stop Killing Games, also referred to officially in the EU process as the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames”, has become one of the most discussed digital consumer rights campaigns in Europe. The campaign is closely associated with Ross Scott and Accursed Farms, whose work helped bring wider attention to the issue of games being shut down and made unplayable after purchase. Chapters 00:00 Milan Uhrík 00:58 Reinier Van Lanschot 02:11 Jörgen Warborn 03:47 Catarina Vieira 04:16 Jörgen Warborn 04:54 Tiemo Wölken 05:21 Jörgen Warborn 06:04 Lukas Sieper 07:11 Catarina Vieira 08:15 Markéta Gregorová 09:53 Anna Cavazzini 12:21 Nikola Minchev 13:27 Maria Ohisalo 14:43 Apostolos Tzitzikostas 18:44 Ilhan Kyuchyuk 21:10 Bogdan Rzońca #stopkillinggames #skg #stopdestroyingvideogames Europe Echo https://europeecho.com   / europeecho     / europeecho     / europeecho     / europeecho   Uploaded by James Tamim, EU Digital Policy analyst. © European Union, 2026 Edits applied by Europe Echo (transformative value add): repetition, silences, and stutters removed; content restructured by theme so questions and answers stay together and topics remain organised (some sections may be reordered to separate topics more clearly); on-screen context and detailed descriptions added (topic labels, chapters, captions) to make long briefings easier to follow; and video/audio quality enhanced (cropping, splicing the correct audio-language tracks, voice isolation, and colour correction).