Fabricated Fury: Industry’s Lies Exposed in ‘Stop Killing Games’ Smear Campaig

Gaming personality Asmongold recently reacted to a video by Accursed Farms, shedding light on what appears to be a targeted campaign of misinformation against the Stop Killing Games initiative and its founder, Ross Scott. The initiative aims to challenge the legality of publishers destroying games that consumers have already purchased.

Anonymous Accusations and Fabricated Claims

The core of the issue revolves around an anonymous complaint filed with the EU Commission, accusing the “Stop Destroying Video Games Initiative” (the formal name for the European Citizens’ Initiative that Scott promotes) of two violations: a “false ‘no funding’ declaration” and “systematic concealment of major contributions.” The complaint specifically cited Ross Scott as the supposed “evidence” of these undisclosed professional contributions.

The anonymous accuser presented several points to support their claims:

Hours Worked: They quoted Scott’s own statements about working “12 to 14 hours a day” for “many weeks” to keep the campaign moving and gather signatures, calling this a “conservative estimate” of “fifteen to twenty weeks.”
Professional Rate: They assigned a “professional rate” of $50 to $75 euros an hour to Scott’s volunteer efforts.
Estimated Value: Based on these fabricated hours and rates, they calculated a “minimum estimated value” of Scott’s “undisclosed professional contributions” to be between $63,000 and $147,000 euros.

Asmongold, reacting to Scott’s explanation, highlighted the absurdity of these claims. Scott clarified that while he did put in significant hours as a volunteer, he never tracked them, and the “12 to 14 hours” was an estimation for particularly demanding days, not a consistent schedule for 15-20 weeks. He emphasized that he is not a “professional” with an hourly rate for this work, as it is entirely volunteer-based.

Directly Contradicting EU Rules

Perhaps the most glaring contradiction in the anonymous complaint is its direct opposition to the European Union’s own rules regarding sponsorships for European Citizens’ Initiatives. Scott, and subsequently Asmongold, pointed out the relevant EU guidelines:

Sponsors defined: “Sponsors are people or organisations providing financial support over 500 euros.” Scott confirmed he has spent zero euros on the initiative.
Legal vs. Natural Persons: The rules specify that “legal persons or organisations providing other economically quantifiable… or non-economically quantifiable support” are considered sponsors. Scott, as a “natural person” (an individual) not representing an official organization, falls outside this definition.
Volunteering: Crucially, the EU guidelines explicitly state: “Individuals providing non-financial support, such as volunteering, are not considered sponsors under the ECI Regulation and do not need to be reported.”

This last point directly undermines the entire basis of the anonymous complaint, as Scott’s involvement has always been as a volunteer.

Industry Lobbying and Future Concerns

Both Scott and Asmongold suspect that this anonymous complaint is not from a concerned citizen but rather a calculated move by the video game industry to discredit the Stop Killing Games initiative. The timing of the complaint, hot on the heels of negative statements from industry lobby groups like Video Games Europe, further fuels this suspicion.

Scott revealed that the official organizers of the initiative had even proactively consulted with EU representatives in spring 2024 to confirm that his capacity of assistance was permissible, and they were told it was “fine.”

Asmongold echoed Scott’s frustration, suggesting that the industry’s decision to resort to administrative attacks and misinformation, rather than directly debating the initiative’s merits, indicates their inability to form a stronger argument.

While the current attempt to “kill the initiative” with these lies has seemingly missed its mark due to the clear violation of EU rules, both Scott and Asmongold expressed concern about future, potentially more aggressive, tactics. Scott anticipates the industry might try to “throw so much dirt on us, members of parliament start getting scared to support it.”

Despite these challenges, the Stop Killing Games initiative has been gaining increasing support from European Members of Parliament, including Nicolae Ștefănuță, a Vice President of European Parliament. This growing political backing, combined with the initiative’s focus on basic consumer rights, suggests that the fight for game preservation is far from over. Sources