According to reports from The Verge and Tom's Hardware, a new legislative push in the United States aims to redefine how consumers acquire and retain video games. Representative Ritchie Torres of New York’s 15th congressional district, representing the Bronx, has formally introduced the Power To The Players Act. If enacted, the bill would instruct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to craft regulations ensuring that purchasing a video game grants actual ownership rather than a mere revocable license to play.
The Scope of the Power To The Players Act
Both sources highlight that the legislation targets growing frustration over digital purchases evaporating when publishers pull support. While The Verge outlines the broad strokes of Torres's announcement, Tom's Hardware notes that specific concrete definitions and fine-tuned details of the bill have yet to be fully released. Torres criticized current industry norms, stating that a game stripped away the moment a corporate server shuts down functions as a rental disguised as a sale. The proposal aligns closely with grassroots pressure, such as the Stop Killing Games movement, which pushes back against the industry standard of selling revocable digital permissions. Furthermore, Tom's Hardware points out that the bill may intersect with broader debates regarding whether digital transfer rights will be mandated for consumers.
Server Sunsets and the Disappearance of Playable Titles
The urgency behind the legislation is underscored by numerous high-profile game decommissions. According to both publications, Rep. Torres specifically singled out NBA 2K25 in his announcement, noting that the title faces storefront delisting by the end of the month alongside a server closure slated for December 31st, severely limiting its ongoing playability. Tom's Hardware expands on this issue by citing past industry controversies, including Ubisoft’s 2024 shutdown of The Crew, an online-only racing title that left even recent purchasers entirely unable to play because single-player components relied on active servers. Additional examples noted by Tom's Hardware include yearly sports titles from major publishers and the outright replacement of the original Overwatch by Overwatch 2. These occurrences coincide with announcements like Sony’s reported plans to phase out physical game discs by 2028, a timeline highlighted by The Verge, and legal defenses from Sony claiming that clicking a purchase button evidently yields only a temporary right to use rather than durable property.
Regional Precedents and Alternative Regulatory Paths
Federal efforts mirror mounting legislative action at the state level. The Verge reports that the federal bill shares similarities with the Protect Our Games Act, introduced in Pennsylvania by State Sen. John Kane. That regional legislation similarly proposes requiring publishers to institute an offline gaming mode, establish online modes independent of corporate servers, or issue a minimum 25 percent refund when titles are sunset. While both state and federal proposals seek similar consumer protections, they highlight different regulatory pathways for curbing practices that leave digital libraries vulnerable to unilateral corporate decisions.
Analysis: What Mandatory Preservation Means for the Industry
The introduction of the Power To The Players Act and similar state-level bills marks a pivotal friction point between traditional consumer expectations of ownership and the modern live-service economic model. For decades, the gaming industry has shifted away from physical media and self-contained software toward cloud-dependent architectures, recurring monetization, and server-tethered single-player experiences. Publishers argue that online components require ongoing maintenance resources, making permanent server upkeep financially unviable for older titles. However, lawmakers and consumer advocates counter that treating digital purchases as ephemeral rentals undermines basic property rights, especially when games are pulled from circulation entirely. If enacted, these regulations would force major studios to fundamentally re-engineer how they handle end-of-life transitions, compelling investments in offline patches, peer-to-peer infrastructure, or community server tools. While critics suggest this could lead to scaled-back multiplayer features or fewer online titles, proponents argue it is a necessary check against anti-consumer obsolescence, ensuring that cultural artifacts of the digital age are not permanently erased by corporate fiat.
Editorial graphic and headline text by Signal Titans.
Source: Video game ownership bill introduced in Congress · New York rep announces game ownership bill that would require consumer ownership rather than sale of licenses — would also require publishers to keep the game functional after support ends | Tom's Har
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