Stop Killing Games throw weight behind California bill that would force companies to either keep games working independently after server shutdowns or issue refunds

The movement also say their UK efforts are "far from dead in the water"

Stop Killing Games, the campaign group seeking to prevent online games being rendered unplayable when publishers shut down their servers, have moved to support a Californian bill that in its current form would require studios to either update games with impending server shutterings to they keep working independently aftwards or provide full refunds. The movement also claim their UK efforts are "far from dead in the water", noting they were called in to advise the Department for Culture, Media & Sport last week.

The Californian legislation cited in Stop Killing Games' latest progress update on Reddit is dubbed the "Protect our Games Act", and was initially put forward by Chris Ward - a member of California's State Assembly - in February this year. Stop Killing Games say they had a hand in "advising on the drafting of" it. "Requires companies that sell server-connected video games to notify consumers before ending support and to provide clear information about how the game will function once it reaches 'end of life'," reads an overview of the act's aims on Ward's website. "The bill also prohibits companies from selling the game within two months of its end-of-life date and requires them to either replace the game or provide a plan allowing users to continue running it after support ends."

Taking a look at the bill on California's legislative info site, it appears to have spent the past month or so going through revisions. The current version (outlined in the text which hasn't been crossed out) would affect games put on sale after January 1st, 2027. It would require publishers to provide one or more of the following options from the day a game's servers shut down: "a version of the digital game that can be used by the purchaser independent of services controlled by the operator", "a patch or update to the purchaser’s version of the digital game that enables its continued use independent of services controlled by the operator", and/or "a refund in an amount equal to the full purchase price paid for the digital game by the purchaser".

It'd also require publishers shutting down servers for a game to send out a notice to players both in-game and via the company's website 60 days before the game goes offline. This note would have to let folks know an exact shutdown date, any services the publisher'll no longer be providing and which features of the game won't be available anymore, any known security risks which the server shutdown might cause, and how players can either continue to use the game or get a refund, that last part being in line with the options provided above.

There are some exemptions to this current version of the law, specifically subscription services which offer access to games or the option to buy them "solely for the duration of the subscription", free games which are "advertised or offered to a person for no monetary consideration", and "any digital game that is advertised or offered to a person that the seller cannot revoke access to after the transaction, which includes making the digital game available at the time of purchase for permanent offline download to an external storage source to be used without a connection to the internet".

So, a slightly different kettle of fish to Ward's initial proposal, which you can still read in full by factoring in the crossed out lines in legislative info site's listing for the bill. The site lists the bill as last having been amended on April 6th, with a committee hearing on it scheduled for April 16th. Funnily enough, the latter's also the date of a European Parliament public hearing about Stop Killing Games' citizens’ initiative - the petition the group recently submitted to the body. The hearing will be livestreamed, if you fancy tuning in this Thursday.

Finally, Stop Killing Games organiser Moritz Katzner noted that he was called in to advise the UK government's Department for Culture, Media & Sport on unspecified matters related to the campaign last week. Despite the campaign's UK petition having already been debated in parliament, Katzner added while he's "still urge some caution", the group's UK "effort is far from dead in the water". He added that Stop Killing Games are "planning to build a stronger presence in the UK", but didn't provide any more details.

Odds are we'll cover any notable news which comes out of the European Parliament public hearing, with the Californian bill also something we'll aim to keep an eye on.