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Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.-15) announced on October 15, 2026, that he plans to introduce the federal Power To The Players Act. The proposal would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create rules treating a purchased video game as an owned product, preserving rights to play, transfer and resell it, and requiring an offline mode before supporting servers are shut down. It is a proposal, not an enacted law; no bill number or statutory text has been released.
What Torres announced
Torres’s office says the measure would address the gap between paying a game’s retail price and receiving only a revocable license tied to a publisher, storefront or online service. The announcement describes a framework for FTC regulations rather than a completed statute. Until formal text is introduced, its language, scope and effective date remain unsettled.
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“When you pay for a game, you should own it,” said Rep. Torres. “Consumers must have the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer the games they buy. 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.”
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Digital stores commonly deliver games under license terms. Those terms can make access dependent on an account, authentication check, digital-rights-management (DRM) system or publisher servers. The exact rules vary by platform and title, so a purchase does not automatically guarantee permanent access or resale under current arrangements.
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| Issue | Common digital-game arrangement today | Right described in the proposal |
|---|---|---|
| What the buyer receives | Often a license to use the software under account and service terms | Ownership of the purchased game |
| Continued play after delisting | May depend on whether the title remains downloadable and whether required services still operate | A continuing right to play the owned game |
| Transfer or resale | Usually constrained by account rules and platform terms | A right to transfer and resell the purchased game |
| Online shutdown | A game may lose functions, or become unplayable, when servers are retired | An offline mode would be required before supporting servers are shut down for games with online functionality |
| DRM and authentication | Requirements differ by title and platform | The announcement does not specify how DRM or account checks would be handled |
Why the issue is urgent for players
NBA 2K25 illustrates the short ownership window
The Torres announcement cites NBA 2K25, whose standard edition retailed for $69.99 and All-Star Edition for $99.99. According to the announcement, the game was scheduled to be removed from digital storefronts on October 30, 2026, and its online servers were scheduled to shut down on December 31, 2026—about two years after release. Delisting can prevent new downloads, while a server shutdown can disable online features or any part of the game that requires a live connection.
The Crew shows what a complete shutdown can mean
PC Gamer reported that Ubisoft’s The Crew went offline in 2024. Purchasers could no longer continue playing even its single-player campaign, demonstrating why an offline-preservation requirement would matter for games built around online services.
The concern is growing as consoles rely less on physical media and publishers retire online games. A disc or a downloaded file may not be enough if the software still requires an account check or a server response.
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Ownership instead of a revocable license
The central change would be legal treatment of the transaction. A purchase would confer ownership rather than merely permission that can end under a service agreement. The announcement does not say whether the rule would apply retroactively to games already bought or only to future sales.
A continuing ability to play
“Right to play” would be meaningful only if players can obtain the necessary files and run them on compatible hardware after a storefront delists a title. The proposal’s announcement promises the right in principle but does not define preservation duties, patch access, compatibility periods or remedies when a publisher fails to provide them.
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Transfer and resale
A transfer or resale right could allow a buyer to pass a digital copy to another person instead of leaving it permanently attached to one account. The announcement does not specify whether transfers would be limited to one copy, how accounts would be separated, or how publishers and platforms would verify a legitimate transfer.
Offline play before server retirement
For games with online functionality, the proposal would require an offline mode before the supporting servers are shut down. It is not clear whether every feature would have to work offline, whether publishers could remove only competitive or social functions, or how much notice and testing would be required.
What remains unresolved
Torres’s office has not released a bill number or statutory language. As a result, readers cannot yet determine:
- which games, platforms and editions would be covered;
- whether the rule would apply to previously purchased titles;
- which FTC office or process would enforce violations and what penalties would apply;
- how DRM, mandatory accounts, patches and cloud saves would be treated;
- whether publishers could offer online-only games under a separate category;
- how transfer and resale would work across regions and storefronts; or
- what legislative timetable, votes or implementation date to expect.
Those answers require an introduced bill and subsequent congressional or FTC action. An announcement alone does not change the terms of a game already in a player’s library.
What players can do while the proposal is pending
- Check the title’s access requirements. Read the store listing and end-user terms for account sign-in, recurring authentication, DRM and server dependencies.
- Preserve legitimate files. Keep installers, patches and license information where the platform permits it, and verify that backups can be restored on compatible hardware.
- Distinguish offline-capable from merely single-player. A single-player label does not prove that the game will run after a server shutdown; look for an explicit offline mode.
- Evaluate DRM-free releases. PC Gamer describes DRM-free games sold through GOG as an ownership-friendly option because buyers can back up the files and use them while compatible hardware remains available. That still does not guarantee future operating-system or hardware compatibility.
- Treat physical editions individually. Discs may contain only part of a game, require patches or include account checks. Confirm the specific title and platform before assuming a boxed copy will preserve offline play.
What to watch next
The decisive next step is publication of a bill number and text. That document should reveal whether the measure creates enforceable consumer rights, directs the FTC to write detailed rules, or leaves key questions to later proceedings. Until then, the Power To The Players Act is a proposed response to delisting and server shutdowns—not a current guarantee that every purchased game will remain playable.
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