Inside the Stop Killing Games debate, Pirate Software apologizes to Ross Scott but Penguinz0 calls out the hypocrisy
The Crew is dead, but the debate isn’t. Stop Killing Games vs. Pirate Software drama is far from over.
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The Stop Killing Games campaign is wrapping up soon, and it looks like the petition won’t hit its goal. Started by Ross Scott last year, it’s got about a month left, but after nearly a year, it’s only managed to gather a bit over half the required signatures. Some people think Jason “Pirate Software” Thor Hall played a big role in the campaign’s struggles, and just a few days ago he weighed in on the situation.
What is the Stop Killing Games campaign
The whole thing started after Ubisoft shut down The Crew’s servers in 2024 and pulled the game from online stores. Even though the game had a single-player mode, it was still online-only with no offline option, so shutting the servers made it impossible to play. What’s worse, they were still selling it at full price in 2023. That’s what set off the Stop Killing Games (SKG) initiative.
In November 2024, a lawsuit was filed in California against Ubisoft, claiming the company misled buyers into thinking they were purchasing a permanent game, not just a license that could be revoked. The case was updated in April with new evidence, like photos of the game box showing the activation code is valid until 2099, suggesting the game was meant to be playable long-term.
SKG’s goal is to make sure games (even ones publishers shut down) stay playable by pushing for things like open-sourcing server code or adding offline modes. Jason “Pirate Software” has been a big critic of the campaign, sharing his issues with it in his YouTube videos: Stop Killing Games and Stop Killing Games – 2. Because of his strong criticism, a lot of people fired back, accusing him of spreading misleading info.
SKG vs. Pirate Software
Recently, Ross Scott put out a video wrapping up the whole campaign, where he also responded to Jason’s comments. Ross said that Jason’s statements swayed public opinion and probably helped kill the campaign.
Jason also got called out by penguinz0 (Cr1TiKaL), who explained why Jason’s arguments didn’t really make sense when you look at SKG’s actual goals. On June 25, Pirate Software responded to all this on his X posts, talking about both his reaction and Ross’s video.
Long story short: Jason still stands by his opinion, saying the campaign has a “deeply destructive” purpose and could hurt developers of online games like MMOs over time. At the same time, Jason admitted he was out of line with Ross and shouldn’t have taken things personally. He said he spoke out in the heat of the moment and has apologized for what he said. He also made it clear that people shouldn’t just blindly follow his views and that he’s not trying to force anyone to take sides.
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.
Yesterday, penguinz0 released a new video addressing a deleted tweet from Pirate Software, where Jason accused Ross’s community of being toxic and hateful. Penguinz0 called that out as pretty hypocritical, especially considering some of the rude and unprofessional things Pirate Software has said about Ross and the whole movement. While Jason has apologized for his comments, penguinz0 points out that it doesn’t fix the larger issue of misrepresentation.
