Who owns their digital goods is an issue that’s been gaining momentum in recent years. A lingering issue, the shutting down and pulling video games, movies, and more, has angered consumers and questioned the shift to an all digital entertainment with no physical copies. Sony will be doing away with discs in their next PlayStation release, making the issue for video game players even more dire and urgent. Rep. Richie Torres (NY-15) has introduced the Power to the Players Act. It would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations protecting consumers’ ability to own and play the video games they purchase.

In the announcement NBA 2K25 is given as an example The game retailed for $69.99 for the standard edition and $99.99 for the All-Star Edition and will be delisted from digital storefronts on October 30 and have its servers shut down on December 31, two years after its initial release.

The bill would give consumers ownership over the games they buy instead of a license. Games with online functionality would be required to provide an offline mode before the servers supporting them are shut down.

The legislation doesn’t address other digital entertainment such as movies and digital comics. We’ve reached out to Rep. Torres office regarding that and more.