How The Crew Inspired the Stop Killing Game Movement

The Crew 2 and The Crew are open-world racing titles developed by Ivory Tower and published by Ubisoft. While both games received moderate critical acclaim, their lasting impact has grown significantly in recent years, primarily due to Ubisoft’s controversial decisions surrounding server shutdowns. These events have placed the titles at the center of the growing “Stop Killing Games” movement.

What Is the Stop Killing Games Movement?

Launched in April 2024, the Stop Killing Games movement is a grassroots, consumer-driven campaign that advocates for digital game preservation and players’ rights, particularly in the face of online-dependent games becoming inaccessible after server shutdowns.

Spearheaded by YouTuber Ross Scott (Accursed Farms), the movement gained momentum following Ubisoft’s closure of The Crew’s servers, effectively rendering even its single-player functionality unusable. The campaign calls on publishers to ensure continued access to games post-shutdown, whether through offline modes, support for private servers, or by releasing essential code to the public.

Core demands of the movement include:

• The provision of offline functionality for titles with single-player modes

• Enabling community or private servers once official servers go offline

• Legal recognition of long-term ownership rights, beyond mere licenses

As of mid-2025, the movement has gathered over 721,000 signatures and continues to grow. A related UK petition has surpassed 100,000 signatures and has already reached Parliament. Starting July 2024, the campaign aims to reach 1 million signatures by the deadline of July 31, 2025, in order to prompt legislative action within the European Union.

Prominent voices in the gaming community—such as MoistCr1TiKaL, XQC, PewDiePie, and right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann—have publicly supported the movement. In response to mounting pressure, Ubisoft has pledged to introduce offline modes for The Crew 2 and Motorfest, though the original The Crew remains unavailable. 

This movement strikes at the heart of digital ownership and cultural preservation. It’s not about forcing companies to host old games forever, but about ensuring you retain the ability to play what you’ve paid for. If this movement has interested you in The Crew series, you can check out our comparison website for the best deals on The Crew 2.