EGDF welcomes the Commission’s invitation to engage with the European games industry
Closing a game is always a tragedy for both players playing it and game developers who designed it. EGDF welcomes the Commission’s invitation to engage with the European games industry to improve industry practices related to the end‑of‑life of games, as a follow‑up to the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames”. EGDF believes that a well‑designed, SME‑friendly code of conduct is the right step forward to a) address consumer protection-related concerns related to closing down games, and b) ensure smooth transfer of games to memory institutions, museums and game archives for making them available for players. EGDF is ready to actively contribute to this process and to ensure that the voices of European game developer studios—especially SMEs and indie teams—are represented alongside those of large industry giants, platforms and consumer groups.
EGDF fully agrees with the Commission that a blanket legal obligation to keep all games playable after commercial support ends is not a viable option, given EU intellectual‑property law and the diversity of business models and technologies in the games sector. EGDF also agrees with the Commission that existing EU consumer law already offers important safeguards for the economic interests of players, including information duties about the termination process.
However, EGDF is disappointed to notice that the Commission’s response does not highlight the fact that Europe already has solutions for extending the commercial life of games and a solid legal framework for preserving games as cultural heritage in official museums and archives, including copyright exceptions that should allow preservation institutions to store, emulate and, under defined conditions, provide access to out‑of‑commerce or unsupported titles. In parallel with consumer‑law enforcement, the Commission should treat games preservation as a priority, so that commercial shutdown does not mean cultural erasure.
- Support development of commercial solutions for extending the commercial life of games.
- Encourage Member States to sustainably fund national video game museums and archives and systematically deposit European games, including server‑based titles, before they disappear.
- Launch Horizon Europe calls on the technical challenges of preserving online and cloud‑based games, enabling museums and archives to make those games available for players.
- Keeping preservation exceptions under copyright law up‑to‑date so that memory institutions can emulate servers, bypass obsolete protections when strictly necessary, and document games (e.g. via screenshots and video) for teaching and research.
About EGDF
The European Games Developer Federation e.f. (EGDF) unites 27 national trade associations representing game developer studios based in 24 European countries: Austria (PGDA), Belgium (FLEGA and WALGA), Croatia (CGDA), Czechia (GDACZ), Estonia (Gamedev Estonia), Finland (Suomen pelinkehittäjät), France (SNJV), Germany (GAME and GBM), Ireland (IMIRT), Italy (IIDEA), Lithuania (LZKA), Netherlands (DGA), Norway (VIRKE Produsentforeningen), North-Makedonia (MGI), Poland (PGA and IGP), Portugal (APVP), Romania (RGDA), Serbia (SGA), Slovakia (SGDA), Spain (DEV), Sweden (Spelplan-ASGD), Switzerland (SGDA), Turkey (TOGED) and the United Kingdom (TIGA). Through its members, EGDF represents more than 2 500 game developer studios, most SMEs, employing more than 45 000 people.
The games industry represents one of Europe’s most compelling economic success stories. Located at the crossroads of the ICT and cultural industries, the game industry is one of the rapidly growing segments of the cultural and creative industries. In 2023, there were around 5 900 game developer studios and publishers in the EU, employing over 91 000 people and running a combined turnover of close to €19bn. In 2024, Europe’s games market was worth €26,8bn, and the industry has registered a growth rate of 4% in key European markets. The European digital single market is the third-largest game market globally.
EGDF underlines the importance of the long-term preservation of games and is pleased to see that this topic is becoming more relevant within Europe and that more than one million European citizens have expressed their interest in playing games even after their commercial exploitation phase. Games are the leading cultural medium of the 21st century and, therefore, a crucial part of European digital cultural heritage that must be preserved for the upcoming generations by memory institutions. EGDF supports initiatives allowing official national memory institutions to make copies of out-of-commerce works available online for not-for-profit purposes, as long as right holders have the right to object to this at any time.
For more information:
- EGDF statement in a PDF format: https://www.egdf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/202606-Statement-by-EGDF-on-the-Commission-response-to-Stop-Killing-Games-2.pdf
- EGDF position on digital preservation: https://www.egdf.eu/documentation/6-games-building-the-better-world/celebrating-european-cultural-heritage-through-games/
For more information, please contact:
Jari-Pekka Kaleva,
Managing Director, EGDF
jari-pekka.kaleva@egdf.eu