A new bill in Congress wants to settle one of gaming's oldest frustrations: whether you actually own the games you pay for. Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York has introduced the Power To The Players Act, which would direct the Federal Trade Commission to write regulations guaranteeing that buying a game means owning it — not merely holding a revocable licence a publisher can claw back.
The proposal also takes aim at transfer and resale rights and at preserving offline play after publishers pull the plug on servers. Torres points to 2K's decision to delist NBA 2K25 from storefronts at the end of October and shut its servers on December 31, a move that will sharply limit how the game can be played going forward.
The bill lands in the slipstream of the 'Stop Killing Games' consumer movement and high-profile shutdowns such as Ubisoft's closure of The Crew, which left paying customers with an unplayable product. Torres's office has not yet announced a bill number or confirmed cosponsors, and the measure's path through a crowded congressional calendar is uncertain.
Still, the introduction puts the ownership question squarely into federal policy debate. If passed, it would give the FTC sweeping authority over the terms publishers can impose — a prospect the industry is likely to fight hard. OTMedia will track the bill as it moves.
