US Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York City, announced today that he will introduce the “Power To The Players Act.”
If it becomes law, the bill will see the US Federal Trade Commission create regulations that protect our “ability to own and play” purchased games, according to Torres’ office.
“When you pay for a game, you should own it,” says Torres. “Consumers must have the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer the games they buy. A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale.”
The game ownership issue is longstanding on PC, which moved to digital distribution a couple decades ago, but has recently come to the foreground of public consciousness as the consoles also transition away from discs. Earlier this year, Sony announced that it will end physical disc production in 2028.
The related problem of online games being decommissioned before players are done with them has also received more attention in recent years. The Stop Killing Games campaign in particular has raised the issue’s profile, arguing that basic offline functionality should be expected when online games are retired. Founder Ross Scott and organizer Moritz Katzner gained an audience with the European Parliament earlier this year.
As one of its prime examples of the problem, Stop Killing Games has pointed to The Crew, a Ubisoft racing game which went offline in 2024, preventing those who purchased it from continuing to play even the singleplayer campaign.
The aim of the Power To The Players Act is to establish and enforce a more genuine ownership of purchased games, as opposed to the revocable licenses we currently buy, and to require that offline modes be made available before online games are shut down.
For DRM-free games, such as those purchased from GOG, ownership is a non-issue: Once you have the game files, you can back them up and use them for as long as you can find a PC that’ll run them. Realistically, the FTC is not going to mandate the eradication of software copy protection, so if passed the bill would presumably arrive at a softer definition of ownership.
I’ve reached out to Rep Torres’ office for more information on what enforcement of the bill is expected to look like, should it pass.