US congressman plans bill to protect video game ownership

Summarised from Engadget's report · Updated 16 Oct, 03:27 · Archive

A New York congressman plans to introduce legislation calling on the FTC to protect players' ability to own games they purchase.

Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has announced plans to introduce the Power to the Players Act, calling on the Federal Trade Commission to protect people's ability to own and play video games they have purchased. The bill would prevent companies from revoking access to games by requiring them to be sold as owned products rather than digital licences, and by mandating offline modes when servers are shut down.

Torres cited NBA 2K25 as an example of the issue the legislation would tackle. The basketball game launched in 2024 for $70 but is being removed from digital storefronts on 30 October, just two years after release. Its online servers will be shut down in December, meaning players will no longer have access to the game they paid for. Torres told Kotaku that enforcing such protections would represent a 'restoration to the historical norm' that existed before games were primarily sold digitally. He suggested similar protections could be extended to digitally purchased books, movies and music.

Read the report

• NY congressman to introduce bill protecting video game ownershipRepresentative Ritchie Torres wants the FTC to establish regulations ensuring you can play the games you've purchased.Engadget · 15 Oct, 21:15

In this story: Ritchie Torres · Federal Trade Commission · New York

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