EU Rejects Stop Killing Games, Offers Voluntary Code

The European Commission has responded to the Stop Killing Games petition (1.29 million EU citizens asking lawmakers to require publishers to keep games playable after server shutdowns) and the answer is no. Brussels declined to mandate anything legally binding, proposing a voluntary industry code of conduct instead, to be brokered by end of 2026. That's a defeat by any honest reading: voluntary codes in the games industry have essentially no track record of enforcing anything, and a code without consequences is the legislative equivalent of asking publishers nicely. The petition forced the Commission to engage faster than most citizen initiatives manage, and the campaign almost certainly shifted internal conversations about live-service practices. Internal conversations, though, don't save a single game from server shutdown. The fight isn't over: individual EU member states can still pursue domestic legislation, and separate digital fairness legislation in Brussels could eventually reach the same outcome through a different route. But the pan-European route that looked most promising going into 2026 has effectively closed.