By now, any serious gamer is familiar with the frustration of favorite titles becoming unplayable due to centralized server shutdowns or being digitally delisted. Can anything really be done about this video game preservation problem?
To help answer that question, Ars Live will host a live conversation with Ross Scott, founder of the Stop Killing Games campaign, on August 11 at 2:30 pm ET. As Ars’ Senior Gaming Editor, I’ve documented countless examples of once vibrant games being left for dead by their creators.
Scott founded the Stop Killing Games movement in 2024 after Ubisoft decided to shut down the servers for The Crew. Since then, he’s helped gather millions of gamers’ signatures on government petitions demanding legislative action to provide some form of perpetual access for games people purchase—either via continuing centralized server support or an option for players to maintain their own servers.
The movement has already led to an official parliamentary debate and response from the European Commission and proposed legislation that is working its way through the California legislature. We’ll discuss how this problem can be legislated away, the impact of recent moves like Sony’s decision to stop selling PlayStation discs, and what animates gamers’ interest in long-term game preservation.
