NY congressman to introduce bill protecting video game ownership
Representative Ritchie Torres wants the FTC to establish regulations ensuring you can play the games you've purchased.
Representative Ritchie Torres has announced plans to introduce a bill calling on the Federal Trade Commission to protect people's ability to own and play the video games they've purchased. The Power to the Players Act aligns with the Stop Killing Games campaign, a movement lobbying for protecting game ownership in a landscape dominated by digital software licenses that can be revoked at any time.
The Impact of Digital Delisting
The announcement for Torres' bill specifically mentions NBA 2K25, which serves as an example of what's at stake. The basketball game launched in 2024 for $70 and is scheduled to be removed from digital storefronts, just two years after release. With 2K's decision to also shut down the servers supporting the game's online modes, players effectively will not own the same game they paid for.
The Power to the Players Act would direct the FTC to prevent similar situations by ensuring players own games rather than license them, and forcing companies to offer an offline mode if a game's servers are taken down. In an interview, Torres said enforcing the protections would be a restoration to the historical norm before games were primarily sold digitally.
Potential Legal Obstacles
Several potential obstacles could impede the bill. It could die in committee, similar to a California bill that offered comparable protections at the state level. Furthermore, relying on the FTC to regulate faces legal hurdles following a 2024 Supreme Court decision to overturn Chevron deference, which limits federal agencies' power to interpret ambiguous legislation.
Requests for a draft of the bill and comments on the potential legal roadblocks have been submitted to the representative's office.
