The fight to stop publishers from pulling the plug on perfectly good games just hit a major milestone. The Stop Killing Games campaign—launched to push back against the growing trend of shutting down online-only, buy-to-play titles—has officially crossed 1 million signatures. And no, that’s not just angry tweets; that’s 1 million actual petition signers telling publishers: enough is enough.
The movement took off earlier this year following the announcement that Ubisoft would permanently shutter The Crew (2014), making it completely unplayable—even for people who bought it. It was the latest in a string of games yanked offline despite still having active player bases. The list of casualties includes Jump Force, Battleborn, Project Spark, Anno 2070 (which was thankfully resurrected with an update), and, most recently, Anthem, whose servers are going dark this November.
At the heart of the frustration is a simple problem: players are paying for games they don’t really own. Many modern titles—especially live-service and online-only games—cease to exist the moment publishers flip the switch. The Stop Killing Games campaign, spearheaded by consumer advocacy group Change.org in partnership with media outlets like The Gamer and IGN, is demanding legal reforms to ensure that when players pay for a game, they get to keep access to it.
The campaign’s message is blunt: if publishers want to sunset a game, they should be legally required to unlock it for offline play or preserve it in some way. In other words, no more “sorry, servers are down forever, thanks for the cash” endings.
So far, publishers have largely shrugged off the backlash, offering little more than corporate statements about “difficult decisions” and “resource allocation.” But the pressure is mounting as the petition gains steam, press coverage expands, and frustrated gamers vent across social media.
It’s not just niche titles or obscure mobile games at risk either. Even high-profile games from big studios—many of them buy-to-play—have vanished. And with the rise of online-only DRM, even single-player games are increasingly vulnerable. The gaming graveyard is filling up faster than ever.
If you’re wondering what you can do besides shout into the void (or at your router), the Stop Killing Games website lays it out: sign the petition, spread the word, and demand action from regulators. Whether it leads to legal changes or just forces publishers to think twice before pulling the plug, the message is clear: the era of games as disposable content has to end.
Want more on the shutdown trend? Check out our recent piece on Anthem’s server closure and the growing conversation around game preservation.
