Ritchie Torres announces the Power to the Players Act so a bought game stays owned

The New York congressman wants the FTC to write rules making a game purchase ownership rather than a licence, with an offline mode required before servers close. It has not been formally introduced...

AI-drafted from 3 sources. This story was written with AI from the outside reporting listed under Sources, and checked by automated tools before it went up. The originals have the full detail.

A member of the US Congress wants buying a game to mean owning it. On 15 October 2026, Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York's 15th district, announced the Power to the Players Act, a bill that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to write rules protecting people's ability to own and play the games they pay for.

"When you pay for a game, you should own it," Torres said in the announcement. "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."

What the bill would do

According to the press release, the act rests on three points. Buying a game would give you ownership of it rather than a licence to play it. Games with online features would have to provide an offline mode before the servers that support them are shut down. And people would keep the ability to own and resell the games they buy.

Worth noting is what it does not appear to ask for. As described, the offline mode requirement would not make publishers keep servers running for ever, only leave behind a version that still works once they stop. The Next Web links it to the Stop Killing Games campaign, which asks companies to stop selling games that become unplayable when online support ends.

The release uses NBA 2K25 as its example. Torres's office says the game sold for $69.99, or $99.99 for the All-Star Edition, and that it was due to be removed from digital storefronts on 30 October and to lose its online servers on 31 December, about two years after release.

Not yet a bill with a number

The announcement says Torres will introduce the legislation, and that is where things stood a few days later. The Next Web reported on 19 October that Torres still had to formally introduce it in Congress, and no bill number or full text had been published. Citing Kotaku, it said Torres had not confirmed whether the bill would have cosponsors or support from Republicans. Some early coverage, Shacknews included, described it as already introduced, but the press release itself speaks of a plan.

The Next Web also reports that Torres framed it as an affordability issue and as a return to how games were bought and played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Torres told Kotaku the idea is "if you pay for it, you own it". The bill covers games only, not films or music, though The Next Web says Torres hopes it sets a precedent for the wider digital economy.

Shacknews puts the announcement alongside recent delistings such as Ubisoft pulling The Crew 2, the kind of shutdown that leaves players holding a purchase that no longer runs.

Even once it is introduced, a bill like this has a long way to go. It would need to get through committee and votes in both chambers, and then the FTC would have to write the actual rules. For now it is a stated position from one congressman with a clear example attached, and a sign that the argument about game ownership has reached Washington.

Sources

• Rep. Torres announces Power To The Players Act, legislation to ensure gamers own their games (Office of Rep. Ritchie Torres)
• Power To The Players Act would make the games you buy yours to own (The Next Web)
• NY House Rep Ritchie Torres introduces legislation to protect player ownership of games (Shacknews)

Image: Image via Shacknews