Representative Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday that would transform how Americans own video games, turning digital purchases from revocable licenses into genuine property.
The Power To The Players Act, first reported by Kotaku and covered by Comicbook, would direct the Federal Trade Commission to write rules guaranteeing that when you buy a game, you own it. That includes the right to keep playing it and to transfer it, and it would require publishers to ship offline modes before they shut down servers.
What the Power To The Players Act Would Change
Right now, buying a game digitally almost always means buying a license. The publisher keeps every meaningful right: it can raise prices, lock content behind subscriptions, or simply switch off a title you paid full price for. According to Torres' official announcement, the bill would make ownership the default, with the FTC empowered to enforce regulations protecting the ability to own, play, and transfer purchased games.
The offline requirement is a direct answer to a practice that has infuriated players for years. When a publisher ends server support, games built around online features often become unplayable husks, even for people who spent 60 or 70 dollars on them. As Ars Technica reports, the bill would require a functional offline mode before servers are permanently shut down, an idea championed by the Stop Killing Games movement that has spent years pushing exactly this demand.
Torres: A Game That Vanishes Is a Rental Disguised as a Sale
Torres built his case around a concrete example. NBA 2K25 launched in September 2024, yet its servers are scheduled to go dark on December 31, barely 15 months later.