GNCA talks to Ross Scott about game ownership, digital rights, and the EU petition to save endangered games

GNCA’s latest video features a deep-dive conversation with Ross Scott of Accursed Farms, known for his long-running fight to stop publishers from quietly erasing games people have paid for. At the heart of the discussion is a growing problem: modern games that become completely unplayable once a company pulls the plug on their servers. These are not free-to-play titles or temporary subscriptions — they’re full-priced products that can be revoked without notice, leaving customers with nothing. Scott calls it what it is: a broken model where ownership is an illusion, and publishers face no obligation to keep their games usable after sale.

At the heart of the campaign is a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), a formal legal process that allows EU citizens to propose new laws. This particular initiative aims to hold game publishers accountable by requiring them to provide a "reasonably playable" version of any game that depends on online servers, once official support ends. Ross Scott stresses that this wouldn’t force companies to keep servers online indefinitely or disclose proprietary source code. Instead, it could involve releasing minimal server software, technical documentation, or stripped-down builds that let players run the game independently — enough to make continued play possible without corporate infrastructure.

The initiative has already gathered over 540,000 verified signatures, with a target of 1 million by the July 31 deadline. If that threshold is reached, the European Commission will formally review the proposal and may move to enact consumer protection laws applicable across all EU member states. Ross Scott argues that such a shift could have international consequences, as many developers prefer to standardize policies globally rather than maintain separate regional practices — much like Valve’s worldwide refund policy, which followed legal pressure from Australian regulators.

Alongside the EU effort, a separate petition is active in the UK, though it faces more bureaucratic resistance. An earlier version was cut short due to the dissolution of Parliament, and the official government reply failed to address the core issue, prompting criticism even from the petition committee. A revised petition is now live and requires 100,000 signatures to qualify for Parliamentary debate. While Ross Scott describes the UK’s legal framework as less predictable and more fragmented, he maintains that it remains a valuable front in the broader push for digital preservation rights.

Scott also addresses common misconceptions about the initiative. It is not retroactive and would not apply to games that have already been shut down. Instead, it targets future titles, giving studios several years to prepare for compliance. Crucially, the proposal does not demand that developers surrender source code or core intellectual property. The intent is simply to ensure that paying customers retain access to a functional version of the product. Scott cites examples like Guild Wars, which remains operational nearly two decades later, as proof that long-term support is feasible. In contrast, games like The Crew and LawBreakers were taken offline without advance notice or refunds, leaving buyers with nothing.

For audiences outside the EU and UK — particularly in the United States — there are few immediate ways to influence the outcome. Scott notes that significant legal reform in the US would likely require an act of Congress, a scenario he sees as highly improbable in the current political climate. Nonetheless, he remains hopeful that a successful outcome in the EU would have a global impact. If publishers are required to implement preservation measures for the European market, it may be simpler and more cost-effective for them to apply the same standards worldwide, effectively extending the benefits to players in other regions.

Scott situates the problem within a wider pattern of digital disempowerment, where user ownership is steadily undermined by restrictive licensing, mandatory server connections, and vague shutdown policies. He sees video games as a frontline example of this shift — a space where companies are quietly testing how much control they can retain over sold products before public resistance mounts. Drawing parallels to the right-to-repair movement, Scott likens the disappearance of games to real-world cases of printers or smart devices that stop functioning when support ends, despite still being physically intact and purchased outright.

Ultimately, this moment represents the clearest and most actionable opportunity yet to push back against the quiet erosion of digital ownership. With both the European Citizens’ Initiative and the UK petition in motion, the groundwork exists to establish meaningful consumer protections before the games industry fully normalizes the practice of revoking access to paid content without consequence. For EU and UK citizens, this is not just a symbolic gesture — it's a chance to shape enforceable policy. The relevant links, as noted in the video, provide a direct path to supporting the cause.

If you are a EU citizen: SIGN THE EU CITIZENS INITIATIVE: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home

If you are a citizen of the UK: SIGN THE UK PETITION: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/