Hi everyone,
As you may have seen in my previous post there are growing concerns regarding the issue of digital media (like video games) only offering a license to play for consumers and various questions that needs answers in relation to players ownership of digital games. Gamers have taken action in the UK by creating a petition that asks for consumer protection laws that prevent video game publishers from disabling games that people have already purchased. The petition is called the “Stop Killing Games” petition.
For context according to the UK government website, people are allowed to create or sign a petition that asks for change to a law or government policy and the petition is posted on the government website for petitions (I have linked the actual petition in the sources below). The UK government website states that after a petition has received 10,000 signatures, the petition gets a response from the government. After 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in parliament. At present the Stop Killing Games petition has 14,119 signatures and appears to have crossed the 10,000 threshold in February.
The UK government responded to the Stop Killing Games petition on February 3rd, 2025 however, the response was not what gamers wanted to hear. The UK government stated there are “no plans to amend UK consumer law on disabling video games” and that those selling games must comply with current consumer laws. The UK government did at least say they would continue to monitor the issue. The UK government then preceded to give a detailed outline of the current consumer laws that apply to this issue but the current laws fail to address the ownership issue surrounding digital games. You can see the governments full response in the link provided below.
This response by the UK government as well as California’s new law that I discussed in my previous post both share the same problem. The California and UK government responses imply that the current laws surrounding consumers ownership rights to digital games (or rather the lack of) are acceptable. This means that video game publishers are going to continue to have the right to shut-down games that people play or revoke people’s licenses to games they have purchased likely without facing legal repercussions. Hopefully the Stop Killing Games petition reaches over 100,000 signatures so the UK parliament will have a more detailed discussion regarding the matter in parliament. As it currently stands it does not feel like governments are recognizing the problematic nature of digital games only offering players a license to play digital games despite players having purchased the games.
How do you feel about the UK governments response?
Sources:
https://www.gov.uk/petition-government
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074
https://www.howtogeek.com/uk-government-dismisses-stop-killing-games-petition/
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Hi Reese,
I think you bring up an interesting point on licensing vs ownership that many consumers may not understand or have deeply considered. This may explain why the UK government is not motivated to address these issues or make changes to protect consumers. Perhaps another part of the issue then is awareness – if consumers become more aware of the risks of buying a license compared to owning a physical copy, then more would sign the petition and successfully bring the issue to the government to address. Though the lack of government response is disappointing, it makes sense given the lack of public concern and push back on game licenses.