The European Commission rejects calls to stop publishers from taking games offline

• The Commission said it cannot propose legislation requiring publishers to keep games playable.
• However industry representatives and consumer groups will be invited to help develop a code of conduct covering video game end-of-life practices.

The European Commission has announced plans to engage with consumers and game publishers by the end of the year to explore new industry standards around video game preservation. 

This comes in response to the Stop Destroying Videogames European Citizens’ Initiative, which called on the Commission to introduce new legislation to ensure players can continue to access video games after a publisher ends commercial support. 

Games today often rely on online servers to function, which means once they stop being supported, players can’t access certain aspects of the game or, in some cases, it becomes entirely unplayable.

Organisers of the campaign argue that consumers should be able to retain access to games they have purchased despite the publisher's decision to end support. 

However, the Commission said it is not in a position to introduce legal requirements that would force publishers to keep games playable after commercial support ends. It cited intellectual property protections, including copyright law, as a key consideration. 

Open discussions

According to the Commission, existing EU consumer protection legislation already provides safeguards for players. Publishers must inform consumers about contract duration and termination conditions before purchasing.

The Directive on digital content and digital services also provides consumers with remedies for when the content or service provided does not meet contractual expectations. 

Instead of pursuing new legislation, the Commission has said it is opening discussions between the games industry and consumer representatives to create an industry code of conduct covering the end-of-life management of video games. 

The Commission also said it will work with consumer organisations and national authorities to improve awareness of existing consumer rights.