1.1 million and rising: EU citizens push ‘Stop Destroying Videogames’ past the legal threshold weeks ahead of deadline | European Citizens´ Initiative Forum
As of July 4, 2025, more than 1.1 million European citizens have signed the European citizens’ initiative Stop Destroying Videogames - most of them within just a few days, thanks to volunteer enthusiasm, massive mobilisation within the gaming community and support from well-known gamers and influencers. With the signature collection period open until July 31, the numbers are still climbing.
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TL;DR
Pavel, a 25-year-old gaming student from Prague, is fronting the “Stop Destroying Videogames” European Citizens’ Initiative to stop publishers from yanking the digital rug out from under gamers. Right now, many titles go offline forever when servers shut down—meaning you lose access to games you’ve paid for—and Pavel’s crew wants EU law to guarantee that bought games stay playable and preserved as cultural heritage.
Since kicking off, they’ve racked up over 440,000 signatures (with a million targeted by July 2025), scored early wins like Ubisoft adding offline modes, and rallied more than 5,000 volunteer “gamers-turned-activists” on Discord. No big budget, just pure passion, a dash of legal muscle (hello, EU consumer-rights directives) and cross-border support from groups like the Pirate Party and GOG to keep our gaming history alive.
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