Slashdot has reported:

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres plans to introduce legislation requiring stronger ownership protections for video games, including rules for games whose online servers eventually close. The proposed Power To The Players Act would direct the Federal Trade Commission to create regulations covering those rights.

“When you pay for a game, you should own it,” Torres said in introducing the bill, which he described as a response to “a rental disguised as a sale”. He told Kotaku in a phone interview this week, “I think there should be a simple rule: if you pay for it, you own it.” Torres has represented New York’s 15th congressional district since 2021.

The proposal would require companies selling digital games to give players more than a licence that can expire at any time. Games with online features would also have to include offline modes that remain usable after their servers shut down. The bill does not cover other digital media, such as movies and music, although Terminator 2 and other movie purchases were removed from people’s digital libraries earlier this year.

The debate is drawing attention as 2K Games prepares to end support for NBA 2K25, the fifth best-selling game in the United States in 2024. Fans have spent hundreds of hours and dollars on the basketball simulation each year. A little more than two years after its release, the game is set to be removed from digital storefronts on October 30, and its online servers are scheduled to go offline on January 1, 2027. The shutdown will make its most popular modes impossible to play, leaving a game millions bought for $70 mostly unusable.

Kotaku said Torres did not confirm whether the bill would have any cosponsors or whether Republican colleagues would support it. The proposal’s significance for consumers may also be tested next month, when Grand Theft Auto 6 is due to be sold as a download code in a box. Fans will have no control over a purchase starting at $80, according to the source.