Do you own the games you buy online? Mostly no. In January 2026, 1,294,188 verified signatures from EU citizens backed the Stop Killing Games initiative, which asked lawmakers to stop publishers from switching off games people already paid for. Figures here are checked as of November 2026, and each source is named so you can look it up yourself.
Here is what the numbers say about owning a game, what a license really gives you, and what the law now makes sellers tell you.
How many people signed the Stop Killing Games initiative?
The EU’s official process required one million verified signatures. Stop Killing Games gathered more than 1.44 million, and 1,294,188 of them survived verification, according to the figures reported when organizers announced the count in January 2026. The total submitted was 1,448,270. That puts the valid rate at about 89.4%, or roughly 154,082 signatures rejected.
Figure 1: Verified versus rejected signatures. Source: totals of 1,448,270 submitted and 1,294,188 verified as reported by organizers in January 2026; the failed count is the difference.
Germany led the count with about 233,000 verified signatures, then France with about 145,000 and Poland with about 143,000. The European Commission’s own news page confirms the initiative cleared the threshold in 24 Member States.
The EU did not give campaigners the law they wanted. On 16 June 2026 the Commission adopted its reply and said it “cannot propose a legal obligation to keep video games playable” at this stage, as quoted by the outlet outof.games from the Commission’s Communication. It promised talks with industry and consumer groups by the end of 2026 on a code of conduct for end of life games, plus a report on the Digital Content Directive.
A million signatures got an official answer. It did not get a rule.
Is a digital game a purchase or a license?
A license, in the largest storefront’s own words. Steam’s Subscriber Agreement, Section 2.A, states: “The Content and Services are licensed, not sold.” It grants Valve’s customers “a non-exclusive license and right, to use the Content and Services for your personal, non-commercial use,” and says the license ends when the agreement or a subscription that includes it ends. Section 2.G bars you from selling or transferring copies to anyone else.
That one sentence is why a button that says “Buy” and a disc in your hand are different things. You pay once. You still play only while the seller’s terms and servers allow it.
The best data on how people read that button is older. In a University of Pennsylvania Law Review study published in 2017, researchers showed nearly 1,300 internet users a mock storefront selling digital goods. After a short notice explaining what a “Buy Now” click really gives you, the share who said they owned the item fell by 23% for ebooks, 20% for MP3s and 13% for movies, as the authors report it. Games were not in that study, so treat it as evidence about how storefront wording shapes belief, not a game-specific rate.
Figure 2: Reduction in ownership beliefs after an ownership notice. Source: University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2017, nearly 1,300 respondents. Digital goods tested were ebooks, MP3s and movies, not games.
The pattern is simple. Plain wording changes what buyers believe.
If you sell software or games, your license text is where that wording lives. A EULA generator can give you a draft to adapt, and our guide on how EULAs differ from a software license agreement shows what each document is meant to cover.
What happens when a publisher switches a game off?
You keep the files, if you were ever given them, and lose the game. The clearest recent case is Ubisoft’s The Crew. According to the Stop Killing Games community wiki, Ubisoft removed The Crew from digital storefronts on 14 December 2023, shut its servers on 31 March 2024 and began revoking licenses in early April 2024, with no refunds and no way to download the game files. Ubisoft cited “upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints.” That wiki is community maintained, so check Ubisoft’s own notices before quoting the details.
Two plaintiffs sued Ubisoft over it on 4 November 2024 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. The same wiki says the case was dismissed without prejudice in June 2025 after the plaintiffs withdrew.
Figure 3: Key dates from The Crew shutdown to the Commission’s reply. Sources: Stop Killing Games wiki (community maintained), outof.games summary of the Commission Communication, European Commission news page.
For anyone who sells access to software, the lesson is about disclosure. If your game or app can be switched off, your terms should say how and when, in words a buyer can find before paying. Our post on terms and conditions for mobile game in-app purchases covers the same duty for virtual items.
What do gamers say they want?
They want discs, and they worry about disappearing libraries. YouGov polled 1,500 US adults online on 5 July 2026, of whom 471 qualified as console or PC gamers. Among console gamers, 51% preferred discs or cartridges and 32% preferred digital purchases. Among PC gamers it flipped: 40% preferred digital and 32% preferred physical.
Ownership drives the physical preference. Among gamers who prefer physical copies, 81% said permanent ownership is a reason, and seven in ten said they are concerned digital games could become unavailable in future. The 471-gamer subsample is small, so read the splits as directional.
| Group (YouGov, 5 July 2026) | Prefer physical | Prefer digital |
|---|---|---|
| US console gamers | 51% | 32% |
| US PC gamers | 32% | 40% |
Many gamers want the disc because a disc is something they can hold on to.
What do people spend, and what does the law now require?
Americans spent $58.7 billion on video games in 2024, according to Circana’s figures released through the Entertainment Software Association. Content was $50.6 billion of that, hardware $4.9 billion and accessories $3.2 billion. Mobile made up about $26 billion of the content total, before app store fees.
Figure 4: US video game spending by category. Source: Circana data published by the Entertainment Software Association, 2024.
Content spending covers games, add-ons and in-game items, which storefronts typically sell under license terms, and that is the gap California went after. Its AB 2426 took effect on 1 January 2025. A seller of digital goods, including “digital applications or games,” cannot use words like “buy” or “purchase” unless it either gets the buyer’s separate acknowledgment that the purchase is a license, or shows a clear disclosure before checkout with a link or QR code to the full terms. Government enforcement can bring civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation. The law excludes subscriptions limited to the subscription period, free goods, and goods the buyer can access permanently after the transaction.
Figure 5: The ownership question for a digital game sale. Sources: Steam Subscriber Agreement, Section 2.A; California AB 2426 as summarized by Greenberg Traurig, 2024.
Disclosure now has a legal price tag, at least in one very large state. For related reading, see our look at how many people read EULAs, where the reading-rate data shows why plain wording matters.
Digital game ownership at a glance
The Bottom Line
The headline number is 1,294,188. That many people verified their names to say a game they paid for should not vanish. The EU’s answer on 16 June 2026 was no new law, so for now your rights come from the seller’s license text and from rules like California’s AB 2426.
If you sell games or software, say plainly what a customer gets: what they can play, on which devices, for how long, and what happens if the service shuts down. Put it where they see it before they pay. If you buy games, read the license section of the store’s agreement once. It tells you the one thing the Buy button does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you own the games you buy digitally? Usually not. Steam’s Subscriber Agreement says plainly that “The Content and Services are licensed, not sold,” and the license ends when the agreement or a subscription ends. You hold a right to play under the seller’s terms, not the game itself.
How many people signed the Stop Killing Games petition? 1,294,188 signatures were verified out of 1,448,270 submitted, a valid rate of about 89.4%. The European Commission replied on 16 June 2026 and said it could not propose a legal obligation to keep games playable.
Do gamers prefer physical or digital games? Console gamers lean physical. In a YouGov poll of 1,500 US adults (471 gamers) on 5 July 2026, 51% of console gamers preferred discs or cartridges and 32% preferred digital. PC gamers leaned the other way, with 40% preferring digital and 32% physical.
Does California law change how digital games are sold? Yes. Since 1 January 2025, California’s AB 2426 requires sellers of digital games to tell buyers when a purchase is only a license, or to get the buyer’s acknowledgment. Civil penalties can reach $2,500 per violation.
Sources and References
- outof.games. (2026). “The European Commission Answers to the Stop Killing Games Movement.” Summary of the Commission Communication adopted 16 June 2026, with the initiative timeline and 1,294,188 verified statements of support.
- European Commission, European Citizens’ Initiative. (2026). “Commission replies to the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative.” Over 1.29 million valid signatures, thresholds met in 24 Member States.
- Players. (2026). “Stop Killing Games secures over 1.29 million verified signatures in the EU.” 1,448,270 submitted, 1,294,188 verified, rounded country counts for Germany, France and Poland.
- Valve. Steam Subscriber Agreement, Sections 2.A and 2.G. A live document, read November 2026.
- YouGov. (2026). “As physical disc production declines, are gamers ready to embrace digital distribution?” 1,500 US adults polled online on 5 July 2026, 471 console or PC gamers.
- Perzanowski and Hoofnagle. (2017). “What We Buy When We Buy Now,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 165(2). Survey of nearly 1,300 internet users, ownership answers after a notice.
- Greenberg Traurig. (2024). “AB 2426: New California Law Requires Clear Licensing Disclosures for Digital Goods.” Effective 1 January 2025, covers digital games, penalties up to $2,500 per violation.
- Stop Killing Games Wiki. “The Crew.” Community maintained, rolling source. Delisting, shutdown, license revocation and lawsuit dates.
- Circana and ESA. (2025). “US Consumer Spending on Video Games Totaled $58.7 Billion in 2024.” Content $50.6 billion, hardware $4.9 billion, accessories $3.2 billion.
Note: All figures verified as of November 2026. The Steam agreement and the Stop Killing Games wiki change over time, and the Commission’s follow-up work on a code of conduct runs through the end of 2026, so headline figures are refreshed at least twice a year.
