A New York lawmaker has introduced a federal bill intended to give video game buyers ownership rights instead of the revocable licenses that commonly govern digital purchases. Representative Ritchie Torres, who represents New York’s 15th congressional district, named the proposal the Power to the Players Act.

The measure would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules governing game ownership. According to the announcement reported by Tom’s Hardware, a purchase would confer ownership of the game rather than merely permission to play it. Publishers of titles that depend on online services would also have to provide an offline mode before closing the servers that keep those games working.

Those requirements address a recurring problem in modern game distribution: a customer can pay for a title and later lose access when its publisher ends support. The distinction between a sale and a license is especially important for online-only games, where continued use can depend on infrastructure controlled entirely by the publisher. The bill’s announced goals would move responsibility for preserving basic functionality toward the company that sold the game.

Ubisoft’s 2024 shutdown of The Crew has become a prominent example in this debate. The racing game depended on Ubisoft’s servers even for its single-player campaign, and the company did not leave an offline option or a way for players to operate community servers. Its removal helped motivate the Stop Killing Games campaign, which has pressed publishers to leave discontinued titles in a playable state through offline modes, peer-to-peer patches or community-hosted servers.

Torres also cited NBA 2K25 in announcing the proposal. The basketball game is due to be removed from digital storefronts and have its online service ended two years after release, according to the report. The short support window illustrates how an online component can disappear while buyers may reasonably expect a purchased game to remain usable.

The proposal follows a related initiative in Pennsylvania. State Senator John Kane’s Protect Our Games Act would require publishers to offer an offline mode, enable community servers or provide at least a 25% refund. Together, the measures show lawmakers examining both how games are marketed at the point of sale and what publishers owe customers when online support ends.

Important details of the federal bill have yet to be published. The precise definition of ownership, the rights attached to digital and physical copies, and whether buyers could transfer a digital purchase will determine how broad its practical effect could be. The FTC rulemaking process would also shape how any mandate is applied. For now, the bill establishes a clear policy aim: a product presented as a purchase should not become unusable solely because its seller switches off a service.