This is your somewhat regularly scheduled Stop Killing Games update.
Stop Killing Games is an European Citizens Initiative aiming to keep games playable even after their developers and publishers have stopped supporting it.
Germany has hit the threshold sometime yesterday evening. France has also started to catch up. They are still below 50% but there growth over the last couple of days has been the biggest. Netherlands and Denmark are still in the low 90s.
The milestone comes on the eve of this years Gamescom in Cologne, Germany which is set to kick off today. SKG is not going to have an official presence there. (I’ve checked with the organisers) But if you are attending and want to help spread the word I’m happy to share official marketing material, either in the form of flyers or the files for flyers, so you can print your own. They come in both German and English. If you want some, send me a DM.
Relevant links:
If a game has a mode that works in singleplayer without itnernet connection is it covered by this initiative? Since that would not require further support by the developer?
As far as the initative is concerned such a game would not be covered.
However there is a chance that shutting down the servers and therefore robbing players of part of the product they bought is already illegal under EU law. And if that’s the case then it will ultimately up to whatever consumer protection agency takes on the case. (The initiative has been trying to get either the French or German organisation on the case for months)
I agree that shutting down a games servers while leaving a singplayer mode still can be a bad move and will give team fortress 2 as an example.