Following the parliamentary debate of the Stop Killing Games campaign’s petition to the UK government last year, a group of Green Party members have announced plans to propose an amendment to the party’s policy which would “compel” its MPs to support the campaign.
In case you need a refresher, the Stop Killing Games campaign is pushing for action from governments and lawmakers against publishers rendering online games unplayable when servers are switched off. The campaigners argue that publishers should be required to put in place an end of life plan for titles whoe servers are shut down, ensuring players aren’t locked out of always-online titles immediately at that point, instead being able to keep playing in some form – generally offline or via fan-maintained online servers. The other side of the coin argues that this entails a not unsubstantial cost and burden to put on studios or publishers.
There weren’t any Green Party MPs present at the Stop Killing Games petition’s parliamentary debate, something that arguably isn’t too surprising given the left-wing party only has four MPs at current – for context, the ruling Labour Party currently have 404 and their main opposition the Conservatives have 119. Now, party member Morton Atkins, chairperson and coordinator of the party’s branch for Aylesbury Vale in Buckinghamshire has announced plans to propose an amendment to the party’s policy which would push the Greens towards being vocal advocates for what Stop Killing Games propose.
“In collaboration with a dozen plus Greens Organise and Green Party of England and Wales members, we’ve created an amendment to Green Party policy which would compel Green MPs to support the Stop Killing Games Campaign,” Atkins announced in a thread on the Tweeter. Revealing that he signed the Stop Killing Games petition which parliament debated, he added the following:
The Green Party of England and Wales aims to be the party for a sustainable society and the party for gamers. If this passes it will help reduce destruction of digital art which has considerable environmental impacts during its creation, keeping that art alive through community volunteers and engagement with them via ‘end of life plans’ for all games, preserving our online third spaces which are crucial for tackling isolation and loneliness especially among our youth and the neurodivergent community who live parts of their social lives in these spaces.
It’s worth noting that the group of party members Atkins cites as supporting the proposed amendment thus far is a relatively small one and doesn’t appear to include any of the party’s four MPs at this point. I’ve reached out to the Green Party to ask whether any of those MPs plan to support the proposed amendment or wish to express views on it. Atkins suggested that the amendment will be put to a vote at the party’s 2026 Spring Conference.
