Tag: european union

The Stop Killing Games campaign will set up NGOs in the EU and US

Posted on by faz_business


The Stop Killing Games campaign is evolving into more than just a movement. In a YouTube video, the campaign’s creator, Ross Scott, explained that organizers are planning to establish two non-governmental organizations, one for the European Union and another for the US. According to Scott, these NGOs would allow for “long-term counter lobbying” when publishers end support for certain video games.

“Let me start off by saying I think we’re going to win this, namely the problem of publishers destroying video games that you’ve already paid for,” Scott said in the video. According to Scott, the NGOs will work on getting the original Stop Killing Games petition codified into EU law, while also pursuing more watchdog actions, like setting up a system to report publishers for revoking access to purchased video games.

The Stop Killing Games campaign started as a reaction to Ubisoft’s delisting of The Crew from players’ libraries. The controversial decision stirred up concerns about how publishers have the ultimate say on delisting video games. After crossing a million signatures last year, the movement’s leadership has been busy exploring the next steps.

According to Scott, the campaign leadership will meet with the European Commission soon, but is also working on a 500-page legal paper that reveals some of the industry’s current controversial practices. In the meantime, the ongoing efforts have led to a change of heart from Ubisoft since the publisher updated The Crew 2 with an offline mode.

European banks plan to cut 200,000 jobs as AI takes hold

Posted on by faz_business


Europe’s banking sector is about to get a tough lesson about efficiency. According to a new Morgan Stanley analysis reported by the Financial Times, more than 200,000 European banking jobs could vanish by 2030 as lenders lean into AI and shutter physical branches. That’s roughly 10% of the workforce at 35 major banks.

The bloodletting will hit hardest in back-office operations, risk management, and compliance, the unglamorous guts of banking where algorithms are believed capable of tearing through spreadsheets faster and more effectively than humans. Banks are salivating over projected efficiency gains of 30%, according to the Morgan Stanley report.

The downsizing isn’t confined to Europe. Goldman Sachs had warned U.S. employees in October of job cuts and a hiring freeze through the end of 2025 as part of an AI push dubbed “OneGS 3.0” that’s targeting everything from client onboarding to regulatory reporting.

Some institutions are already swinging the axe. Dutch lender ABN Amro plans to cut a fifth of its staff by 2028, while Société Générale’s CEO has declared “nothing is sacred.” Still, some European banking leaders are urging caution, with a JPMorgan Chase exec telling the FT that if junior bankers never learn the fundamentals, it could come back to haunt the industry.