Nearly 90% of the signatures collected for the game preservation campaign were verified as valid, comfortably surpassing the threshold that obliges EU politicians to consider the issue.

Moritz Katzner, a volunteer for Stop Killing Games, shared the latest update on the European Citizens’ Initiative via Reddit. The EU verified a total of 1,448,270 signatures related to Stop Killing Games, of which 1,294,188 were confirmed as valid, easily exceeding the one million valid signature requirement needed to move the process forward, with roughly 89% of submitted signatures passing verification. Katzner explained that the team had originally planned to announce the news later, closer to the next Stop Killing Games meeting. They ultimately opted for a more modest announcement because they did not want to present their case unprepared, accidentally leak information to lobby groups, or, worst of all, burn out their team.

Katzner also asked the community to be patient with the volunteer group behind Stop Killing Games, emphasizing that this is not an abstract institution like the EU, but real people, including the moderators. He added that he would begin playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 in about 30 minutes to unwind after a stressful week. The campaign’s invalid signature rate stands at around 10%, while top-performing initiatives typically fall within the 10-15% range, placing this effort in the upper tier. Some initiatives have recorded failure rates of 20-25% and still managed to succeed, though it is important to note that the comparison pool is relatively small, consisting of only 11 initiatives.

Stop Killing Games – final count of verified
by u/ in r/StopKillingGames

The Stop Killing Games initiative responds to the practice of publishers discontinuing support for live service or otherwise online-dependent games, thereby removing access for players who paid for them. The primary demand is not perpetual support, but the presence of contingency plans that allow continued access. Fan-run servers serve as a good example. Although the industry has pushed back against the petition, which Katzner referenced when mentioning lobbyists, it has proven highly popular among players worldwide.

European Citizens’ Initiatives enable citizens to directly propose new laws or regulations that the European Commission must examine. Previous successful initiatives include the gradual phase-out of caged animal farming in EU countries and the recognition of access to clean water as a human right. Below is the country list shared by Katzner and the number of verified signatures:

Austria – 20,714
Belgium – 31,846
Bulgaria – 14,238
Croatia – 14,403
Cyprus – 1,997
Czech Republic – 25,935
Denmark – 36,010
Estonia – 9,296
Finland – 54,538
France – 145,289
Germany – 233,180
Greece – 19,618
Hungary – 25,595
Ireland – 36,073
Italy – 77,030
Latvia – 7,526
Lithuania – 14,461
Luxembourg – 2,465
Malta – 2,007
Netherlands – 90,413
Poland – 143,826
Portugal – 31,585
Romania – 38,221
Slovakia – 18,628
Slovenia – 6,520
Spain – 121,616
Sweden – 71,158

Source: PCGamer