US Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Mandate Digital Video Game Ownership
The proposed federal legislation targets digital game licensing and sudden server shutdowns.
1Federal Legislation for Game Ownership
Representative Ritchie Torres announced plans to introduce the Power to the Players Act. The proposed bill aims to direct the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumer rights regarding purchased digital games. It seeks to ensure that digital purchases convey actual ownership rather than revocable software licenses.
2Alignment with Grassroots Movements
The proposal mirrors the core goals of the ongoing Stop Killing Games consumer campaign. Both efforts challenge industry practices where publishers revoke access to titles after purchase. The bill specifically addresses the shift toward digital ecosystems where software availability remains entirely under publisher control without clear consumer recourse.
3The NBA 2K Catalyst
The announcement explicitly highlighted NBA 2K25 as a primary example of digital ownership risks. The basketball title launched in 2024 for seventy dollars and faces digital delisting in October. Publisher 2K also planned a December server shutdown, rendering major online modes completely unplayable for paying customers.
4Mandating Offline Functional Modes
Under the proposed framework, the FTC would require game companies to provide an offline mode before decommissioning servers. This mechanism ensures players retain access to single-player or core features even after backend infrastructure retires. The rule prevents full product obsolescence when active multiplayer support officially ends.
5Restoring Historic Consumer Standards
In an interview with Kotaku, Torres characterized the measure as a restoration to historical market norms. Physical media historically guaranteed permanent user access without remote revocation. Torres suggested these regulatory protections could eventually extend beyond video games to digitally purchased books, movies, and music collections.
6Legislative and Committee Hurdles
The bill faces significant procedural hurdles before reaching a full floor vote in Congress. It risks stalling in committee, similar to a California state bill offering related ownership protections that died in June. Securing bipartisan support remains uncertain as industry stakeholders actively lobby against mandatory offline development.
7Judicial Limits Post Chevron
Empowering the FTC faces legal fragility following the Supreme Court's 2024 decision overturning Chevron deference. Federal judges now hold greater authority to block agency interpretations of regulatory statutes. A single court challenge could invalidate new FTC game rules, mirroring the legal block on noncompete bans.
8Broader Digital Asset Implications
The debate over digital rights highlights a critical shift across modern digital storefronts and media distribution models. If enacted, FTC rules would force publishers to alter server architectures during development. Regulators must now balance consumer expectations of permanent ownership against technical realities of maintaining live-service software.