European Union: European Commission announced assessment for European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames” calling for EU legislation on videogame preservation

On 26 January 2026, the European Commission announced that it had begun examining the European Citizens’ Initiative entitled “Stop Destroying Videogames”. The examination was triggered by the formal submission of the initiative after it obtained 1'294'188 validated statements of support and met the required thresholds in 24 Member States. As required under Regulation (EU) 2019/788, the Commission will assess the initiative and issue an official response within 6 months. The initiative calls on the Commission to consider EU action requiring videogame publishers selling or licensing games in the European Union to leave videogames in a functional state and to prevent remote disabling without first providing reasonable means for continued functioning.