EU admits it can't save discontinued video games

Hundreds of online video games have been rendered unplayable at the whim of their publishers, for either technical or economic reasons.

It's game over for fans of discontinued video games after the EU admitted defeat Tuesday and said it cannot stop publishers from making them unplayable.

But the European Union unlocked one potential cheat code by promising voluntary guidelines to manage video games' "end of life."

The EU was responding to a citizens' petition backed by more than a million people from across Europe called "Stop Destroying Videogames," asking Brussels to make sure older games that still have many fans remain available.

For more than a decade, hundreds of online video games have been rendered unplayable at the whim of their publishers, for either technical or economic reasons.