UK government responds to fan petition to stop beloved games being shut down

The UK government has responded to a fan petition that would stop beloved games being shut down.

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The ‘prohibit publishers irrevocably disabling video games they have already sold’ petition went live last month and, if it gets 100,000 signatures, will be considered for a Parliamentary debate.

“The government should update consumer law to prohibit publishers from disabling video games they have already sold without recourse for customers to retain or repair them. We seek this as a statutory consumer right,” wrote organisers.

“Most video games sold can work indefinitely, but some have design elements that render the product non-functional at a time which the publisher controls. We see this as a form of planned obsolescence, as customers can be deprived of their purchase. We think this practice is hostile to consumers, entirely preventable, and have concerns existing laws do not address the problem.“

The UK petition to stop destroying video games has opened! You can sign it below if you're a UK citizen or resident.https://t.co/4TqB3vFp7k

— Accursed Farms (@accursedfarms) January 14, 2025

To date, more than 13,000 people have backed the petition but the government has already issued a response. “We are aware of issues relating to the life-span of digital content, including video games, and we appreciate the concerns of players of some games that have been discontinued. We have no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence, but we will monitor this issue and consider the relevant work of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) on consumer rights and consumer detriment.”

“There is no requirement in UK law for software companies to support older versions of their products,” they added.

It comes after a string of popular games have been taken offline in recent months. At the start of the year, long-running mobile game The Simpsons: Tapped Out was closed down after more than a decade while this week, it was confirmed Warner Bros’ brawler MultiVersus would be taken offline at the end of May.

A similar petition was launched last year in Europe. The ‘Stop Destroying Video Games’ initiative has already been supported by more than 400,000 people.

In other news, Bloodborne fans are convinced news about the long-awaited remake of the iconic horror game is coming after long-running fan-made projects were forced offline.

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