Ubisoft CEO Addresses the Stop Killing Games Movement as It Hits 1.4 Million Signatures

By Wallace Truesdale | July 21, 2025 | 3:17pm

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Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has addressed the Stop Killing Games movement, whose initiative recently hit 1.4 million signatures. While the European Citizen’s Initiative only requires 1 million signatures to spur action, organizer Ross “Accursed Farms” Scott put the goal post farther to account for potential invalidations. Even when celebrating this milestone, Scott recently said on X that “more people signing still helps.”

As first reported by Game File, one shareholder asked Guillemot during Ubisoft’s annual shareholder meeting on July 10 if he supported the Stop Killing Games petition, followed by “At the end of the day, when players buy an Ubisoft game, do they own it? Or is there a chance that they might no longer be able to play the game years later?”

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Guillemot responded by first stating Ubisoft provides a lot of support to its games, as well as services to ensure they’re accessible and playable 24/7. He then went on to say “Players and buyers are forewarned that eventually the game may be discontinued.” This was followed later by “You provide a service, but nothing is written in stone and at some point the service may be discontinued. Nothing is eternal. And we are doing our best to make sure that things go well for all players and buyers, because obviously support for all games cannot last forever. But that’s an issue that we’re working on.”

What’s notable about Guillemot’s words here is that they don’t actually address what the official “Stop Destroying Videogames” initiative is asking. The information page explicitly states under “Objectives” that “The initiative does not seek to acquire ownership of said videogames, associated intellectual rights or monetization rights, neither does it expect the publisher to provide resources for the said video game once they discontinue it while leaving it in a reasonably functional (playable) state.” Guillemot suggests the campaign is looking for eternal support when, in reality, it’s requesting that a playable version of a game always be available.

It’s a bit ironic that Ubisoft’s CEO finds himself answering questions about Stop Killing Games. Before launching the consumer movement on July 31, 2024, Scott made headlines in January 2024 for considering legal action against Ubisoft for shutting down The Crew. A separate pair of players did file a lawsuit in November 2024, one which Ubisoft seeks to dismiss with language that isn’t surprising given the CEO’s above words. While Ubisoft is far from the only publisher pulling the plug on games, as Sony’s high-profile Concord shutdown and EA’s recent Anthem announcement show others aren’t afraid to do the same, it’s been wrapped up in this consumer movement from the beginning. Additionally, the publisher isn’t the only entity to speak on the movement either, as EU trade association Video Game Europe shared similar sentiments about the movement’s goals.

Anyone interested in how this will all play out may not have to wait long for the next step. The official deadline for the European citizens’ initiative is July 31, 2025, after which the final signature count will determine if the European Commission discusses potential actions against video games being killed.