A game ownership proposal takes aim at server shutdowns. Your purchases haven't changed yet.
The proposed Power To The Players Act would require offline play before servers close. For now, check what a game needs to keep working before you buy it.
A game can stay in your library and still lose the features you bought it for. If playing depends on a publisher's servers, keeping the download or the disc may not be enough when those servers close.
A proposal that drew coverage from Ars Technica on Friday and The Verge on Sunday would put that problem in front of the Federal Trade Commission. New York Rep. Ritchie Torres announced the Power To The Players Act on October 15. His office says it would protect ownership rather than just a license to play, and require an offline mode before a game's supporting servers shut down.
That would be a useful change for buyers. It is a proposal, though, not a new protection you can rely on today.
What the proposal would change
Torres wants the FTC to establish rules protecting people's ability to own and play purchased games. His announcement also calls for preserving the ability to resell them. Those are separate problems: being able to start a game after its publisher walks away doesn't necessarily mean you can transfer your copy to somebody else.
The offline requirement is the part worth watching closely. A publisher could stop running its servers, but would first have to provide an offline mode. That differs from requiring a company to pay for hosting forever.
There is a technical catch. As Ars points out, some online games are built around their servers. Turning one into an offline game may require substantial changes, rather than a final patch that simply removes a login screen. Developers would need to think about that eventual shutdown while designing the game.
The announcement doesn't settle what an adequate offline mode would contain. Nor does it explain how transferring digital purchases would work across stores and accounts. Ars reported that the full bill text wasn't publicly available when it published its story. Until the details are available, promises about exactly which games or features would be protected go too far.
What to check before buying a game now
For your next purchase, look past the download size and the word "Buy." Check the publisher's support pages for three things:
- Can the mode you want run offline? A game having a single-player campaign doesn't, by itself, answer whether it needs a server connection.
- What happens when servers close? Look for a specific shutdown policy or support notice, including which modes would remain available.
- Does the physical edition work independently? A disc can still depend on online services. It isn't automatically a preservation copy.
If you already own the game, read any shutdown notice before deleting a working installation or spending more on additional content. Delisting and shutting down servers are different events: removing a game from sale is not the same as switching off the services it uses. The notice should explain what changes for existing players.
Keeping receipts and local files is sensible, but neither can replace a server that performs part of the game. For purchases you hope to revisit years from now, give more weight to a documented offline mode than a reassuring ownership slogan.
Torres's proposal addresses a reasonable expectation: paying for a game shouldn't leave its useful life entirely up to the seller. Whether it delivers on that depends on the eventual wording and whether it becomes law. Meanwhile, publishers can answer a much simpler question before taking your money: what will still work when their support ends?
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