Ritchie Torres wants to protect digital game ownership and offline playability with the Power to the Players Act
Ritchie Torres is working on the Power to the Players Act, a proposal to strengthen digital game ownership and preserve offline playability.
- The proposal aims to give consumers more rights over digital games they buy.
- A key goal is to keep online games playable if servers are shut down.
What happened
Rep. Ritchie Torres wants to use the Power to the Players Act to strengthen players’ position when it comes to digital purchases. Based on the available information, the proposal focuses on games sold through digital platforms, where consumers often receive a license rather than full ownership. That distinction is central to Torres’ criticism of the current digital games market.
The bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission to create rules to protect gamers and their digital libraries. The provided material does not spell out exactly what those FTC rules would require. What is clear is that the FTC would have an oversight role in the proposal, meaning the plan goes beyond a political statement and would also create a regulatory framework.
A second key point is offline playability. Torres wants online games to remain usable after servers are shut down, so purchased content does not simply disappear. According to the source, he said consumers should have the right to own, play, and transfer the games they buy. That puts the focus on three separate rights: ownership, use, and transfer.
Torres also criticized the model in which a game becomes unusable once servers are closed. In his remarks, he reportedly cited NBA 2K25 as an example, although the full context of that reference is not visible in the provided material. So while it is clear he used a concrete commercial example, it is not exactly clear how he framed it legally or substantively.
The available information describes the Power to the Players Act as a proposal still in development. The provided material does not include a bill number and does not confirm that the full text has been made public. For now, the main points remain digital ownership, FTC rules, and offline playability after server shutdowns.
Timeline
2026-10-15: IGN publishes reporting on Rep. Ritchie Torres’ Power to the Players Act.
2026-10-15: The same reporting says the proposal is meant to protect digital game ownership and offline playability after server shutdowns.
2026-10-15: Torres explains his position and says, according to the source, that consumers should be able to own, play, and transfer the games they buy.
2026-10-15: Torres reportedly references NBA 2K25 as an example in his criticism of games becoming unusable when servers disappear.
2026-10-15: The available information names the FTC as the body that would be tasked with developing rules to protect gamers and their digital libraries.
Background
Digital games are often sold through platforms where the buyer receives a license under the terms of service. The Power to the Players Act fits into the broader debate over what happens to purchased content when publishers or platforms end online support. That debate is not only about access to a game, but also about whether a digital purchase still has value once the online infrastructure disappears.
The FTC is assigned a role in the proposal as the regulator that would develop rules. Based on the available information, it is still unclear what those rules would look like or how they would apply to different kinds of online games. The material does not mention specific exceptions, technical requirements, or distinctions between always-online games, live-service titles, or games with limited offline features.
The practical implementation also remains open. The source makes clear that Torres wants to protect offline playability, but not how that should work for games that depend on servers for matchmaking, save data, in-game economies, or other online systems. As it stands, the proposal is mainly a policy direction: consumers should get more certainty about digital purchases, even when a publisher or platform ends support.
The reference to NBA 2K25 shows that Torres is tying his point to a recognizable example from the games industry. However, the provided material does not explain the specific situation involving that game. So the only thing that can be confirmed is that he used a current title to support his broader criticism of server-dependent digital games.
The available information does not confirm a final bill text, a bill number, or details of any legislative process. The proposal should therefore be read as a policy initiative around digital ownership and consumer rights, not as a finalized bill with fully worked-out implementation rules.
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Sources
- IGN: Rep. Ritchie Torres introduces legislation to ensure gamers own their digital games