In a recently released video, consumer advocacy group Stop Killing Games and its creator, YouTuber Ross Scott, expressed concerns about the European Union’s recently proposed Children’s Bill, which Scott called “a bomb that could implode the entire video game industry.”
The EU Kids Act was officially proposed on September 17, 2026. According to the outline provided for the EU Kids Act on the official website of the European Commission websitethe proposal in question “mainly aims to protect minors from risky digital services and AI systems, to maintain the digital single market and to maintain a coherent regulatory framework and enforcement structure for the protection of minors online”.
However, Stop Killing Games’ Ross Scott said in a new video that the EU Children’s Act uses the ever-looming threat of AI and the protection of “minors from unsafe digital services” as a “cover” for its true aims, referring to these things as a “mask to hide what else is in there.”
“Limiting social media and AI has nothing to do with why this is such a horrible bill,” Scott said. “As it stands, the EU Kids Act is the most draconian proposal I have ever seen regarding video games and consumers.” One of Scott’s main concerns is that the proposal will “require your personal identifying information to play a video game online” and “make all private game servers illegal.”
While Scott’s comments were initially based on a leaked version of the EU Kids Act proposal, the segments of it shown in his video exactly match the official version of the proposal that has since been released. published on the European Commission website. This proposal is indeed quite broad in its application, as it states that it “sets out clear security by design requirements for online social networking services, video sharing platform services, online games, AI companions and general conversational chatbots, as well as software application stores.”
It’s important to keep in mind that the proposal is a 99-page document and there is a lot of legalese to contend with. That being said, the main section in question when it comes to video games is Chapter III, titled “Safety By Design.” But, as Scott explains, there is a confusing aspect to this proposal that needs to be addressed before we even get to that: how does EU children’s law define a “video game”?
According to the “definitions” section of the proposal, a “video game” is “an information society service”. The use of the term “information society service” is quite specific here, because EU GDPR defines it as “any service normally provided for remuneration, remotely, electronically and at the individual request of a recipient of services”. In simpler terms, an “information society service” is something that can be purchased online.
All hands on deck! This is the biggest threat to Stop Killing Games yet!
The EU’s #KidsAct could end #StopKillingGames by collapsing the EU gaming market and making private and community servers illegal! :https://t.co/X4vfKUQVBN
“The best thing you can do is spread the word… The…
– Stop Killing Games Official (@StopKilingGames) September 30, 2026
So, does this apply to digitally purchased games that don’t have online features? Scott says this definition “is as clear as mud”, which is why Stop Killing Games is concerned that the age verification requirements of the EU Children’s Act could be widely applied to any game purchased through a digital storefront. Obviously, this is an extremely relevant concern given that Steam is a purely digital storefront and Sony is. end disc production for all new PlayStation games in 2028.
Of course, the EU Kids Act is by no means final. It is literally a proposal, which means that it is still at the very beginning of the European Union legislative process. Even before it reaches the voting stages of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, it will be revised and, most likely, amended.
And, as Scott said in his conclusion, that’s exactly why Stop Killing Games believes tackling the EU Children’s Act now is a priority: “The best thing you can do is spread the word about it. The people who write this crap don’t like the general public knowing what they’re trying to do to you. If everyone in the gaming world understood what the EU Children’s Act was trying to do, it wouldn’t have a chance of passing. So let’s let people know!”
Gn world
