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This is a legislative proposal, not an enacted law. As of October 15, 2026, independent coverage said the bill had not yet been formally introduced, so no bill number or statutory text was available.
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What Torres is proposing
The proposal would move digital game purchases away from the current model in which a buyer commonly receives a revocable license and toward an ownership-based model. In practical terms, Torres argues that paying for a game should give the customer durable rights rather than access that can disappear when a publisher changes its business plans.
The announcement frames those rights in three parts:
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- Right to own: A paid game would be treated as something the consumer owns, rather than only a license that the seller can later revoke.
- Right to play: A game that depends on online services would need an offline mode before the supporting servers are shut down.
- Right to transfer: Consumers would retain the ability to transfer or resell purchased games, allowing continued use by friends or family after the original buyer moves on.
Torres summarized the principle in a reported interview: “I think there should be a simple rule: if you pay for it, you own it.” His office described a game that can be taken away when a company pulls the plug as “a rental disguised as a sale.”
Why the proposal matters to digital buyers
Digital storefront purchases do not work exactly like boxed games. A platform account, authentication check, download entitlement or server connection can determine whether a buyer can install or launch a title. When a publisher delists a game, closes its servers or ends account support, the customer may lose functions that were available at the time of purchase.
The proposed offline requirement addresses the most disruptive part of that problem. It would require a game with online functionality to provide an offline mode before the servers that support it are closed. That would not necessarily preserve every online feature: competitive matchmaking, live events, cloud services and other network-dependent systems could still end. The proposal instead seeks to preserve a playable version of the purchased game.
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NBA 2K25 is the proposal’s example
Torres’s congressional release uses NBA 2K25 to show why lawmakers are raising the issue. The release lists the standard edition at $69.99 and the All-Star Edition at $99.99, with both prices identified as figures from the Office of Rep. Ritchie Torres in 2026.
| Item | Detail in the congressional example |
|---|---|
| Standard edition price | $69.99 (Office of Rep. Ritchie Torres, 2026) |
| All-Star Edition price | $99.99 (Office of Rep. Ritchie Torres, 2026) |
| Digital storefront delisting | Scheduled for October 30 |
| Online-server shutdown | Scheduled for December 31 |
| Timing described by the release | Roughly two years after release |
The example illustrates two separate losses: a title can stop being sold to new customers, and its online services can later stop working for existing customers. The bill’s proposed ownership and offline-play rules are intended to address both the customer’s continuing access and the ability to keep using a purchased copy after support ends.
Would the act let players resell digital games?
Transfer and resale are explicitly presented as consumer rights in the announcement. That means the proposal is intended to do more than protect an individual buyer’s access; it would also preserve a way to pass a purchased game to another person.
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The practical details are unknown. The eventual text would need to explain how a transfer works across platform accounts, whether the original copy becomes inaccessible after transfer, how downloaded files are handled and how licenses for music, athletes, characters or other third-party content are treated. Until a formal bill is published, it is not possible to say whether every digital game or every edition would qualify.
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It is not law
Torres has announced that he would introduce the act, but the measure was not formally introduced at the time of the latest reporting. It therefore creates no current right to an offline mode, ownership status or resale option.
The FTC’s role is still undefined
The announcement would direct the FTC to establish regulations, but it does not yet specify the agency’s enforcement tools, deadlines, penalties or the compliance process for publishers and storefront operators.
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Ownership boundaries remain open
Games often include licensed music, sports data, characters, online accounts and other components controlled by separate rights holders. The proposal’s treatment of those elements, as well as online-only games, subscriptions and downloadable expansions, cannot be determined without statutory language.
Its legislative prospects are unknown
No bill number, final text, committee schedule or congressional vote was available in the reported status. The proposal could change substantially during drafting or the legislative process.
Does this change what you own today?
No. A purchase made under current platform terms remains governed by those terms unless and until Congress enacts a law and the relevant rules take effect. Buyers should not assume that a delisted game will remain downloadable, that an online title will gain an offline mode, or that a digital purchase can currently be resold.
The immediate significance is political: the proposal puts ownership, continued play and transfer on the federal policy agenda for video games. Torres said he hopes the approach could eventually establish a precedent for other digital purchases, but the announced scope is video games rather than movies or music.
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