Ritchie Torres Announces Power to the Players Act for Video Game Ownership

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres has announced plans to introduce the Power to the Players Act, a proposal that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish consumer protections for people who buy video games.

Torres’s official October 15 announcement says the measure is intended to make a game purchase confer ownership rather than a revocable license to play. The New York representative also wants consumers to retain the ability to play and transfer games they have bought.

The proposal has been announced but was not yet formally introduced as of October 17. Torres’s office says he “will introduce” the legislation, and no bill number or legislative text was available. That means the final scope, definitions, exceptions, enforcement details, and timetable cannot yet be verified beyond the summary released by his office.

What the Power to the Players Act would address

According to Torres’s announcement, the proposal would direct the FTC to write regulations protecting consumers’ ability to own and play purchased video games. It would also require games with online functionality to provide an offline mode before the servers supporting them are permanently shut down.

The office’s summary says the measure is also meant to preserve consumers’ ability to resell or transfer games. It does not yet explain how those rights would apply across physical copies, digital storefront purchases, subscriptions, free-to-play games, or titles built entirely around online services.

Torres cited NBA 2K25 as an example of the concern. His office said the game is scheduled to leave digital storefronts on October 30, 2026, before its online servers close on December 31. The announcement argues that buyers should not lose access to games on a company’s support schedule after paying for them.

The broader debate overlaps with preservation questions raised when online services disappear. In 2024, we reported on the U.S. Copyright Office’s rejection of a video game preservation proposal involving remote access to archived titles. Torres’s proposal takes a different route by focusing on consumer ownership rules and end-of-service obligations.

Would an offline-mode requirement make you more confident about buying games that depend on online servers?