Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York’s 15th Congressional District in the Bronx introduced the Power To The Players Act this week. If passed, the bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations guaranteeing consumers ownership of a game when they pay for it, rather than a licensing agreement.
It is increasingly common for games sold to require a connection to a server. This means that when a company decides to shut down these servers, the games often become unplayable. Rep. Torres stands out NBA 2K25 as a recent example. 2K will remove the game from storefronts at the end of the month and shut down its servers on December 31, limiting its playability.
Concerns about ownership, playability, resale or transfer of games have recently gained attention after Sony announced plans to phase out physical game discs in 2028. In a statement announcing the bill, Rep. Torres said, “A game that can be removed as soon as a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale.”
The bill would not only give players ownership of a game, “rather than a license to play it,” but would also require developers to implement an offline mode before shutting down supporting servers. This is similar to the Protect Our Games Act introduced by Senator John Kane in Pennsylvania, which would require companies to provide an offline play mode, an online play mode independent of the company’s servers, or a minimum 25% refund when titles are expiring.
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