Stop Destroying Videogames initiative to get a public hearing organised by the European Parliament

Following the immense success of the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative, it's set to get an official reply and public hearing in the European Parliament.

This is the EU side of the overall Stop Killing Games consumer movement, with the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative crossing the confirmed vote count needed to be over 1 million. Now that it has the votes confirmed, the European Commission has a July 27th deadline to make a full response and along with organising a public hearing by the European Parliament.

As noted in a news post on the European Commission website:

Today, the European Citizens' Initiative called ‘Stop Destroying Videogames' was submitted by its organisers to the European Commission. Following its registration in June 2024, the initiative obtained 1,294,188 validated statements of support from EU citizens and reached required thresholds in 24 Member States, making it the 14^th valid initiative that will be examined by the Commission. According to the ECI Regulation, when the Commission receives a valid initiative with at least 1 million certified statements of support, the Commission is required to start an examination process and issue a reply within 6 months.

The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to introduce a requirement for publishers selling or licensing videogames in the EU to leave such games in a functional state, so as to prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.

The Commission has until 27 July 2026 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take, if any. The Commission will meet the organisers to discuss the initiative in detail in the coming weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament.

It will be very interesting to see if any real change happens from this.