The SKG (Stop Killing Games) initiative is a contrived and ironic campaign that reminds me exactly why communism took hold in the world. Communism promises only good things: equality of outcome, services for all, and the removal of “losing,” but in practice this only comes with the absolute revocation of individual rights and the ascension of a class of moralising busybodies.

The irony of the initiative is that it claims to be preserving art by forcing developers to release tools and patches to ensure online games remain playable after shutdown, yet forgets that the ending of online services is itself an act of art. It turns the consumer into the artist and rewards obnoxious armchair developers. Anyone who has played online games that were taken down and later restored by fans knows the original experience is very rarely preserved exactly as the creators intended.

But what is most disgusting and communistic about the initiative is that it aims to criminalise making video games. It empowers a class of useless bureaucrats whose only job will be to survey games that can no longer be played by a minimum of two people. Forcing a failing company to release tools, prove those tools actually work, navigate complex licensing rights, and provide full documentation is completely nonsensical — all while slapping them with fines for non-compliance. Anyone with critical thinking and the ability to imagine an apple in their mind would foresee how counterintuitive and dystopian this is.

In an era where forming a game company and actually paying people to make video games feels like a dying trend, it is sickening that so many midwit gamers seem gung-ho about further fragmenting the industry and making it even harder to innovate. This is further punishment for loss — all to appease a tiny, loud group of the most obnoxious people imaginable.

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