US Congressman Ritchie Torres plans to introduce legislation that would give players stronger ownership rights over the video games they purchase, including requiring online games to remain playable after their servers shut down.
Kotaku, which interviewed Torres about the proposal, reported that the New York representative plans to introduce the Power To The Players Act, which would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations protecting video game ownership.
Torres summarized his position simply during the interview: “If you pay for it, you own it.”
NBA 2K25 Highlights the Problem
One example behind the push is NBA 2K25, which was the fifth best-selling game of 2024 in the US.
Players have spent significant amounts of money and time on the basketball game, but 2K Games is now preparing to withdraw support just over two years after its release.
The game will be removed from digital storefronts on October 30, while its online servers are scheduled to shut down by January 1, 2027, making some of its most popular modes unavailable. The standard edition originally sold for around $70.
Torres wants legislation to prevent purchases from effectively becoming unusable simply because a publisher ends online support.
Games Would Need to Keep Working Offline
Under the proposed Power To The Players Act, buying a video game would give consumers ownership rather than only a revocable license.
Games that depend on online functionality would also have to provide an offline mode that continues working after supporting servers shut down.
Torres said consumers should have the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer the games they buy.
He argued that a game that can disappear when a company shuts down its servers is effectively a rental presented as a purchase.
Gamers Have Been Calling for Stronger Ownership Rights
The proposal follows growing pressure from players concerned about what happens to purchased games when publishers discontinue online services.
The Stop Killing Games advocacy campaign has called for companies to stop selling games that can later become completely unplayable once their servers are switched off.
Concerns have also grown as the industry moves further toward digital distribution.
Kotaku noted that Sony is expected to end production of PlayStation game discs for its next console generation, while Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to release next month with physical purchases containing a download code rather than the game itself.
The game starts at $80, raising further questions over what consumers actually own when buying digital games.
The Bill Still Has a Long Way to Go
The Power To The Players Act still needs to be formally introduced in Congress before moving through the legislative process.
Kotaku reported that Torres did not confirm whether the bill would have cosponsors or whether any Republican lawmakers would support it.
The report also noted that an estimated 87% of legislation never reaches a full vote.
Major game publishers could also lobby against restrictions on how they sell and maintain digital games.
Torres Says It Would Restore How Game Ownership Used to Work
Torres told Kotaku that he grew up playing franchises including Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil and SOCOM, although he did not personally buy NBA 2K25.
At 38, he is also nearly 20 years younger than the median member of the House, most of whom were born before Pong was released.
Torres described his proposal not as a radical change to game ownership but as a return to how buying and playing games worked throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
He also called digital ownership an affordability issue as prices rise across the economy.
Movies and Music Are Not Included
The Power To The Players Act currently focuses specifically on video games and does not cover other digital purchases such as movies or music.
That remains the case even though Terminator 2 and several other movie purchases were removed from users’ digital libraries earlier this year.
Torres said games have a particularly strong relationship with ownership because players collect them and can invest substantial amounts of time into them.
However, he said successful video game ownership protections could eventually provide a model for establishing stronger ownership rights elsewhere in the digital economy.
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