1. Update on the Verification Progress

Out of 1,448,270 signatures, 689,035 are already verified, and 15 countries have met their thresholds. We are still missing the two largest countries—Germany and France—but based on our current progress, we are confident we have surpassed the required thresholds.

2. Update on the DFA

The DFA’s (Digital Fairness Act) feedback phase ended yesterday. Thanks to your support, it has received a record-breaking number of submissions. This level of engagement was unprecedented in EU public consultations. Thank you for your efforts.

3. Meetings

Over the past few months, we have engaged in intense discussions with:

• Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
• National governments
• Political parties
• The European Commission

Some representatives even reached out to us proactively. Your emails made this possible.

4. Academic Support

While we cannot share too many details yet, we are actively working to secure expert backing. Having politicians, lobbyists, and developers in our ranks is invaluable, but we must credibly address the tough questions—without relying on expensive consulting firms. (We are a grassroots movement, after all.) Once finalized, we will make a dedicated announcement. Thank you in advance to our new allies.

Why We Need Everyone, Including Studios

Why Engage with Studios?

Some may ask: "Why engage with those who created this mess?" The answer is clear: there is no monolithic "industry." The vast majority of studios—especially European ones, both indie and AAA—have always listened to players and strived to do right by the community. This issue is driven by a powerful few who do not represent the values of creators or players.

Studios Stand With Us

Many studios have not remained silent—they have stood with us. This is not just about consumer rights, though that alone should be enough. It’s about what games should be:

• More than sloppily assembled products
• More than ignored studio visions
• More than just another price tag on a shelf

Games are art. Developers—the people who craft these worlds—are almost never the problem. They suffer under the same corporate greed as players, facing crunch, rushed releases, and compromised creativity. The proof is everywhere: broken launches, abandoned projects, and exploited teams. *to make this clear, we are not making a point about how a game should be or what is considered to be "a good game", that's something very subjective. The point is that it's culture and thus needs to be protected like any piece of culture.

A call to action

Our fight is not against a united CEO front. It’s against a handful of companies holding our favourite games' hostage. That’s why we said "enough"—and why so many of you did too.

Let’s not just talk about developers but with them, big and small, who are already resisting these awful practices. We can’t undo past damage, but we can stop what’s coming. If we allow these few bad actors to dictate the future, we will continue to lose ground on issues that should never have arisen.

Help raise attention

For Citizens:

Reach out to:

• Your government
• Consumer protection groups
• Your favourite studio

For Developers (Indie or Established):

** Make your voice heard.** No one will blame you for stepping into the spotlight to do what’s right. We are already in talks with many in the industry, but we can’t be everywhere. If we’ve missed you (and we apologize—there are simply too many to track), please reach out to us.

We are planning public events and want to bring some of you in front of parliament to demonstrate how things could be.

Thank you for your ongoing support, we are a community project, so feel free to reach out to us at any given time (don’t expect an immediate answer though).

For SKG

Policy and Communications Lead

Moritz

Stay Connected Follow us and join the conversation here:

• Discord (community): https://discord.gg/TCE6uXwsBe
• Reddit (official): https://www.reddit.com/r/StopKillingGames/
• The SKG Wiki: https://stopkillinggames.wiki.gg/
• Website (official): https://www.stopkillinggames.com/
• Mastodon (official): https://mastodon.social/@StopKillingGames
• Twitter (X, Ross): Accursed Farms — https://x.com/accursedfarms
• Twitter (X, personal for future communication on the grounds work): Moritz Katzner — https://x.com/Moritz_Katzner

(written by your favourite GPT, YOUR NOT GOING TO TAKE MY DASH AWAY, Clankers)

SKG also has a Community here on Lemmy. You can find it at !skg@lemmy.dbzer0.com

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/18956969

The proposal would suspend the central plank of a decades-old free trade deal that removed tariffs on imports of goods between Europe and Israel.

However, suspension of the agreement requires the backing of a weighted majority of EU capitals, meaning Germany or Italy would first need to lift their opposition to the 27-state union sanctioning Israel.

The proposal would suspend the central plank of a decades-old free trade deal that removed tariffs on imports of goods between Europe and Israel.

However, suspension of the agreement requires the backing of a weighted majority of EU capitals, meaning Germany or Italy would first need to lift their opposition to the 27-state union sanctioning Israel.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/18913128

The statement reads: “The RTVE Board of Directors agreed during its meeting on this Tuesday, September 16, that Spain will withdraw from the Eurovision Festival if Israel is part of the event. The measure was taken at the proposal of the RTVE president, José Pablo López, with an absolute majority of the Corporation's governing body.”

Previously the Spanish minister of culture had pushed for the country to be banned. This marks the next step with the broadcaster confirming their resolve to leave the contest, should Israel compete.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.earth/m/technology@lemmy.world/p/614669

This is the technology worth trillions of dollars huh

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/18624829

“What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable,” von der Leyen told the Parliament in Strasbourg. “We will propose sanctions on the extremist ministers and on violent settlers.”

The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for 32 percent of its total trade in 2024, so any possible suspension will have a major effect on the Israeli economy. [...] [T]otal exports [have been] amounting to €26.7 billion in 2024.