{"id":61306,"date":"2026-06-17T04:22:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=61306"},"modified":"2026-06-17T04:22:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:22:02","slug":"the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=61306","title":{"rendered":"The EU Won&#8217;t Pursue A Mandatory Game Preservation Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"subtitle\">But it will work toward a voluntary code of conduct for devs and publishers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"slide-key image-holder gallery-image-holder credit-image-wrap lead-image-holder\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2195679\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/\" data-post-title=\"The EU won't pursue a mandatory game preservation law\" data-slide-num=\"0\" data-post-id=\"2195679\">\n<picture id=\"p1a358de8902df1ea6565bfea0809bfcd\">&#13;<source media=\"(min-width: 429px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/intro-1781635462.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<source media=\"(max-width: 428px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/intro-1781635462.sm.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gallery-image \" src=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/intro-1781635462.jpg\" data-slide-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2195679\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/\" data-post-id=\"2195679\" data-slide-num=\"0\" data-slide-title=\"The EU won't pursue a mandatory game preservation law: \" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" alt=\"Photo of three European Commission flags waving on a sunny day\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n                    <span class=\"gallery-image-credit\">Christophe Licoppe\/Shutterstock<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"columns-holder \">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The European Commission has opted not to require video game companies to continue supporting their online titles after they&#8217;re no longer available for purchase. Instead, the regulator said that it will &#8220;explore ways to improve industry standards&#8221; for games that may become unavailable to their audiences.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The regulator weighed in the topic as a result of a grassroots effort known as Stop Killing Games, which collected enough signatures last year for the question of online game preservation to be brought before the Commission. Although it won&#8217;t move ahead with legislation, which it says could not be enacted due to existing copyright and IP laws, the EC&#8217;s next steps will include working with the games industry to develop a code of conduct. This would cover expectations regarding how developers and publishers handle the sunsetting of games. It also &#8220;will work with consumer organisations and authorities to raise awareness about the applicable rights that protect consumers,&#8221; with a report on it due before the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Stop Killing Games movement began in 2024, when Ubisoft shut down the servers for online driving game <em>The Crew<\/em>, and even went so far as to have the title deleted from players&#8217; libraries. The change sparked discussions about players&#8217; rights to access games they&#8217;ve purchased or licensed, as well as more philosophical debates about ownership and preservation in an increasingly digital entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Stateside, California has seen progress with a state law regarding industry standards for how to communicate ending game support to players. Even without a broader legal requirement, some gaming platforms like Steam have adopted language to more clearly convey that players are purchasing a license to the game.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2195679\/the-eu-wont-pursue-a-mandatory-game-preservation-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But it will work toward a voluntary code of conduct for devs and publishers. &#13;&#13;&#13; &#13; Christophe Licoppe\/Shutterstock The European Commission has opted not to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[258,863,6880,5322,7605,1437],"class_list":["post-61306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-game","tag-law","tag-mandatory","tag-preservation","tag-pursue","tag-wont","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}