Pirate Software and Stop Killing Games controversy: Timeline of events

Streamer and indie video game developer Thor "Pirate Software" has consistently been critical of the Stop Killing Games (SKG) initiative, which was founded in April 2024 by Ross "Accursed Farms" Scott. Scott was inspired to create the petition after Ubisoft's The Crew, which was a single-player racing game that needed an internet connection at all times, shut down in December 2023.

In April 2024, SKG came to light, intending to "challenge the legality of publishers destroying video games" that consumers purchase. As of 2025, the initiative's official website claims that a majority of action, through the petition, from the consumer side "has concluded," and now, the team is "awaiting decisions" from "several governments."

Here is an excerpt from SKG's European Citizens' Initiative that summarizes the plan's objective:

"This initiative calls to require publishers that sell or license videogames to consumers in the European Union (or related features and assets sold for videogames they operate) to leave said videogames in a functional (playable) state."

That being said, Pirate Software seemingly does not wish for this initiative to follow through, and has taken to social media through multiple X posts and YouTube videos, to vocalize his disagreement with the Stop Killing Games objective.

This article explores the progression of the Stop Killing Games movement, highlighting Thor’s opposition and the controversy surrounding his remarks.

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August 6, 2024: Pirate Software releases a YouTube video criticizing the Stop Killing Games initiative

As of this writing, the SKG petition is open for signing to European citizens and is 71% of its way to its ultimate goal. In an August 6, 2024, YouTube upload, Pirate Software claimed that even if he were a European citizen, he wouldn't sign the petition:

"My community brought me [the SKG initiative] and tried to get me to sign, and I don't want to. Number one, I can't, because I don't live in Europe, but number two, I wouldn't sign even if I could." (Timestamp - 00:37)

Then, he explained why he thought SKG was trying to bring up "the wrong conversation" about video game development:

"If we're trying to kill off the practice of developers putting together a live service game, pitching it as a single-player experience, and then taking away support in the future, this ain't it, and the reason why is specifically on this initiative under its own description." (Timestamp - 1:13)

The streamer then recited SKG's objective, as it is under the European Citizens' Initiative, and claimed that the goals set were "vague" and would ultimately cause more harm than good:

"The involvement from the side of the publisher this isn't always possible in all video games, and it doesn't call out the specific practice that this is supposedly trying to defeat. It is incredibly vague and will damage all live service games." (Timestamp - 1:55)

He added more to this by saying that the objective should be more specific, and shouldn't blanket live service games as a whole:

"It needs to be specific about the business practice it's trying to defeat, which is specifically companies that are doing this under the guise of it being a single-player game, but adding online only functionality. That is not necessary and doesn't add any gameplay elements, that's the problem." (Timestamp - 8:42)

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June 23, 2025: Accursed Farms calls Pirate Software Stop Killing Games' "biggest critic"

[Timestamp - 18:38]

In an hour-long YouTube video titled "The end of Stop Killing Games," which was released on June 23, 2025, Accursed Farms mentioned the initial video critique on SKG that Pirate Software published in August 2024.

Scott called out Thor for being unnecessarily critical of the campaign, mainly because the streamer misinterpreted its objective:

"For all practical purposes, Thor here has been the number one voice on the campaign, and he's been lying about what it is... [His YouTube] video came out right as we were building momentum, then, except for one boost in Germany, the signatures started drying up like clockwork."

Overall, Accursed Farms pointed out the negative impact Thor's video had on the petition and claimed that netizens who were first introduced to SKG via Pirate Software's video were "misinformed."

In response to Thor's understanding of the initiative, Scott claimed that SKG does not mention anything about the single-player game genre and is rather more focused on publishers communicating a game's "end-of-life plans" so that consumers can make informed decisions:

"An initiative to require video game publishers to implement end-of-life plans when shutting down games they have sold, so customers can continue running them without their support."

Overall, Accursed Farms states that Pirate Software's representation that SKG aims to convert existing multi-player live service games to single-player only was completely false and a "red herring":

"Nothing in the Initiative is asking to convert games to singleplayer! ('Nowhere in there does it say that it's directly targeting, always online, singleplayer games,' said Thor) Yeah! So why does he keep bringing it up? This is a total red herring! ('If we don't like the idea of live service games as a whole, I get it, don't play live service games then. Don't agree to those terms') No!.. We're not against them existing. We're against them being destroyed with no recourse for the customer." (Timestamp - 26:02)

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June 24, 2025: MoistCr1TiKaL shares support for the Stop Killing Games initiative and criticizes Pirate Software for "misrepresenting" its objective

YouTuber and streamer Charlie "MoistCr1TiKaL" released a video titled "Stop Killing Games" on June 24, 2025, and defended Ross Scott against Pirate Software. He mentions how Thor was so fixated on portraying the campaign to be for converting multi-player online games to single-player editions, which in reality is not the initiative's objective:

"Ross is correct, this has nothing to do with just singleplayer only games that require an online connection that, when the online connection is severed, you lose access to the game... Like, yeah, that is included in all of this, but that's not like what the whole movement is about, and for some reason, Pirate Software is stunlocked on that like as if that is the actual meat and potatoes of Stop Killing Games." (Timestamp - 6:19)

Overall, Charlie claimed that Pirate Software's initial video, which currently has over 1.2 million views online, negatively marked the growth of SKG, which, in his eyes, is a positive venture:

"It really is a video that did significant damage to an actually positive initiative that aimed to help consumers in the video game space, all based on his complete misrepresentation of it, which was a complete mess." (Timestamp - 16:17)

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June 26, 2025: Pirate Software issues a statement "doubling down" on his comments against Stop Killing Games

Pirate Software's initial response to the posts against him is nearly 900 words long (Image via @PirateSoftware/X)

Following MoistCr1TiKaL's video, Pirate Software responded across two X posts, which totalled up to about 1,150 words. To sum it up, the streamer retains his initial thoughts on Stop Killing Games and clearly mentions that he is doubling down on his statements:

"For those that will scream HE'S DOUBLING DOWN. Yes I damn well am. I give a sh*t about this initiative and what it means for games, developers, and players in the future."

Further, he stated that while he stands against the initiative, members of the gaming community should think for themselves regarding their stances on whether SKG is a worthwhile campaign or not:

"Just because I don't support this doesn't mean you should blindly follow me in that just because I said pretty words on the internet. You also shouldn't blindly bash me because some other creator said to. Watch the videos I put out, read the initiative, decide for yourself. Apply critical thinking and don't outsource it to others."

Charlie reacted to Thor's posts and claimed that the streamer is failing to take accountability for misrepresenting SKG:

"The reason so many people, myself included, do not like how Pirate Software is handling all this is that he is refusing outright refusing to just admit any level of fault that he was wrong about anything."

While Pirate Software did maintain his original views, he did apologize for being insensitive towards Ross Scott in a reply to his original post:

"Just talked to Charlie and Josh Strife Hayes for a bit in DMs. If you're mad at me for being a d*ck to Ross I get it and I'm sorry for that. I should not have lashed out but I had an emotional response due to how important this subject is to me."

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In other news, Pirate Software faced allegations of emotional manipulation and sexual misconduct in early June 2025.

Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul