Stop Killing Games at the European Economic and Social Committee | Full Debate Highlights

The EESC (European Economic and Social Committee) INT Section holds a debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames”, the campaign widely known as “Stop Killing Games”. 19 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 initiative, supported by more than one million EU citizens, asks the European Union to address what happens when publishers shut down servers or disable games that consumers have paid for. The debate examines video game preservation, consumer rights, digital ownership, planned obsolescence, copyright, cybersecurity, private servers, and the cultural value of games. The discussion is closely linked to the wider Stop Killing Games movement associated with Ross Scott of Accursed Farms ‪@Accursed_Farms‬ whose campaign has brought major public attention to the issue of online-only games becoming unplayable after support ends. Speakers and participants include Pavel Zalesak from Stop Killing Games NGO; Alberto Hidalgo Cerezo, law professor at University San Pablo CEU in Spain; Catarina Vieira, Member of the European Parliament; Isabelle Pérignon, Director for Consumer Policy at the European Commission; Giuseppe Abbamonte from DG CNECT; Brune Blanc-Durand from UFC-Que Choisir; Wytze Koppelman from the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision; and members of the European Economic and Social Committee. The debate covers the legal and practical questions raised by the European Citizens’ Initiative, including whether consumers should retain access to games after publishers end commercial support, whether clearer information or refunds are enough, and how EU law could balance consumer protection with the rights and responsibilities of game publishers. The session also looks at Ubisoft’s The Crew as a real-world example of a game becoming inaccessible after servers were shut down, and discusses the broader implications for the future of digital goods, live-service games, game archives, and Europe’s digital single market. Chapters 00:00 SKG: Pavel Zalesak 07:25 SKG: Alberto Hidalgo Cerezo 16:49 MEP Catarina Vieira 23:45 EU Commission: Isabelle Perignon 28:21 EU Commission: Giuseppe Abbamonte 33:07 UFC-Que Choisir: Brune Blanc-Durand 42:04 Netherlands Sound & Vision: Wytze Koppelman 47:36 Dirk Bergrath 49:48 Ileana Izverniceanu de la Iglesia 52:25 Gianluca di Ascenzo 53:17 Sophia Reisecker 55:42 Netherlands Sound & Vision: Wytze Koppelman 57:14 EU Commission: Isabelle Perignon 1:00:25 EU Commission: Giuseppe Abbamonte 1:01:53 Netherlands Sound & Vision: Wytze Koppelman 1:04:02 SKG: Alberto Hidalgo Cerezo 1:07:59 UFC-Que Choisir: Brune Blanc-Durand 1:09:24 SKG: Pavel Zalesak #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).