EU’s “Stop Killing Games” Push Could Lead to Higher Costs for Players

By ShawshankerMage

The European Parliament is gaining momentum in supporting the “Stop Killing Games” initiative, aiming to protect digital preservation rights for consumers. This growing movement insists that games purchased digitally should remain accessible indefinitely, preventing publishers from delisting or disabling titles after sale.

While this sounds like a clear win for gamers, it may come with unintended consequences.

What is “Stop Killing Games”?

“Stop Killing Games” is a consumer-backed campaign advocating that once a customer purchases a game, it should remain playable regardless of publisher decisions. It was sparked by controversies such as Ubisoft disabling older titles and Gran Turismo 7’s servers becoming unplayable offline. A prominent EU Vice President recently declared, “A game, once sold, belongs to the customer.”

(Source – PC Gamer, July 14, 2025)

Author Opinion: The Hidden Cost of Preservation

While consumer protection is crucial, the reality is that keeping online games live indefinitely costs money. Servers, bandwidth, ongoing security updates, and compliance maintenance are not free. If legislation forces developers to keep games online even when player counts dwindle to near zero, publishers will need to offset these costs somehow.

The most viable option is to shift towards mandatory subscriptions or increase upfront prices to build in the cost of long-term server upkeep. Otherwise, smaller studios and niche games may become financially unsustainable under such requirements.

For example:

• MMOs and live service titles incur continuous backend costs, even without content updates. Server rental, database storage, maintenance staff, and customer support create fixed monthly expenses.

• Old multiplayer games with only a handful of active players cost the same per server instance as popular titles. Without a funding mechanism (like subscriptions), studios are forced to shut them down to avoid financial drain.

Relevant Supporting Facts

✅ Game server costs range from $100 to $1,000 per month per region instance depending on concurrency and region ([Games Industry Biz, server architecture cost analysis, 2024]).

✅ In 2022, Ubisoft justified delisting older Assassin’s Creed titles due to the cost of maintaining licensing and DRM server infrastructure.

✅ In the MMO market, nearly all games with persistent servers have either a subscription, battle pass model, or heavy microtransaction integration to remain viable over 5-10 year spans.

The Future: Subscription as a Necessity, Not a Luxury

If the EU mandates permanent availability of online-dependent games, publishers may restructure their entire payment models. The only path to sustainability could be:

1. Subscription-only access, to ensure active players directly fund live servers.

2. Increased upfront prices for games, building in a “preservation fee.”

3. Heavier monetisation through microtransactions or battle passes to keep games profitable regardless of declining player counts.

Otherwise, publishers would face indefinite operational costs for games that no longer generate revenue – an unsustainable business model.

Conclusion

The “Stop Killing Games” initiative is rooted in a noble goal: preserving digital gaming history and consumer rights. However, the unintended consequence may be a future where subscription-based gaming becomes the norm, as publishers seek to cover the real and ongoing costs of keeping every online game live forever.

This article expresses the author’s opinion based on industry infrastructure realities and financial sustainability concerns.