21
May
2026
Watch
European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop destroying videogames’ (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, imagine that this Sunday is TV night at home. You sit in front of your favorite movie, you bought it, it belongs to you and poof! Black screen. It is remotely disabled because it was no longer profitable. It's unimaginable for a movie and yet, that's exactly what happens to video games. The Crew, Anthem, Concord... so many games paid full pot by the players and killed overnight, without compensation, without explanation. Yet, this total art mixes graphic arts, cinema, theater, music. And behind it, there are developers, graphic designers, composers, screenwriters. Each game removed by greed from publishers, thousands of hours of creation and passion fly away, it is a part of our cultural heritage that is erased. Today, with the initiative Stop Destroying VideogamesMore than a million citizens ask us one simple thing: video games cannot disappear. They even offer solutions at no cost to publishers. For example, leaving the modes offline, allowing players to host games on their own, setting up a public library... In short, that abandoned games can be preserved by those who loved them. Ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, you have a choice to make today: Defending gamers, honoring video game workers and preserving our cultural heritage, or letting publishers' sole profit dictate its law. So for those who will come after, let us act, act!