Congressman Ritchie Torres pitches a bill to make sure you own the games you buy
“When you pay for a game, you should own it.” That’s the pitch from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who announced on October 15 that he will introduce the Power To The Players Act in Congress.
What the bill would do, per Torres’s office:
- Direct the Federal Trade Commission to write rules protecting players’ ability to own and play the games they buy
- Make buying a video game give you ownership of the game, not a revocable license to play it
- Require games with online features to provide an offline mode before their servers shut down
- Preserve players’ ability to resell and transfer the games they paid for
Torres frames it around the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer. “A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale,” he said in the announcement.
Why now: The announcement points straight at NBA 2K25. It sold for $69.99 (or $99.99 for the All-Star Edition), and Torres’s office says it will be delisted from digital storefronts on October 30 with its online servers shutting down on December 31, about two years after launch.
Where it stands: This is an announcement, not a law. The bill hasn’t been formally introduced yet, and it would still have to work through committee before any vote. In an interview with Kotaku, Torres didn’t confirm whether it will have cosponsors, and he described the idea as a return to the way game ownership worked before digital sales took over. Engadget notes it lines up in spirit with the Stop Killing Games campaign.
PPR take: For anyone who sinks years into online games, the offline-mode requirement is the part to watch. The details, and how hard publishers push back, will decide whether this becomes more than a good headline.