United States Representative Ritchie Torres will introduce the Power To The Players Act. This legislation is being made to support consumers' rights in a way that grants gamers ownership of their digital games. If successful, the Federal Trade Commission could then establish regulations to prevent companies from delisting games, shutting down servers early in a game's life, and easily revoking digital licenses.
Some companies are trying to preserve physical media and keep the disc format alive, but physical games are now endangered. With several publishers no longer selling physical versions, Sony ending disc production, and uncertainty around Project Helix's disc drive, the gaming world is headed towards an all-digital future, and gamers aren't happy. Regardless of what the future holds for physical games, digital media currently dominates the gaming market.
Ritchie Torres wants to cement gamers' ownership rights over their digital libraries with the introduction of the Power To The Players bill. At the moment, companies have full control of gamers' digital licenses. Digital storefronts can delist games, cutting off access to a wide audience within seconds.
Developers can shut down servers if a game isn't as profitable as they had hoped, stripping gamers of online features promised on launch. As Torres puts it, families use their savings to purchase games, but with a digital license, the software that they paid for can be "pulled out from under them on a company's arbitrary timeline." If passed, the bill would require the Federal Trade Commission to set regulations that grant consumers ownership of a game and protect their ability to keep playing it. Online games would also have to offer a playable offline mode so fans can keep enjoying the game after servers shut down.
It is a bill designed to help players enjoy their games for years to come and to "close the gap between buying a game and owning it." Right now, the bill still faces plenty of regulatory hurdles, so there's no guarantee it'll see the light of day. Still, it indicates that the United States government is finally taking notice of issues with digital game ownership.
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