California Passes Protect Our Games Act to Ensure Video Game Preservation

The California State Assembly passed the Protect Our Games Act, a consumer bill designed to prevent game publishers from making purchased titles unplayable after official support ends. According to reports from Eurogamer and 80 Level, the legislation supports the Stop Killing Games campaign by promoting long-term game preservation and strengthening consumer ownership rights.

The bill passed a floor vote in the California State Assembly, marking a significant legislative step for the Stop Killing Games movement. 80 Level reports that the passage of the Protect Our Games Act is a major win for the campaign, which seeks to establish legal requirements for how publishers handle the end-of-life process for digital software.

What is the Protect Our Games Act?

The Protect Our Games Act is a piece of consumer legislation that targets the practice of publishers remotely disabling games that users have purchased. It aims to ensure that when a company decides to stop supporting a game, it doesn’t simply vanish or become a non-functional piece of software.

This legislative effort is the primary goal of the Stop Killing Games campaign. The movement argues that consumers should have a way to continue playing the software they paid for, even after the original developer or publisher shuts down the necessary servers.

How does the bill impact game preservation?

Game preservationists argue that the current trend of “live service” games creates a fragile ecosystem where entire pieces of art and entertainment can be deleted by a corporate decision. Eurogamer describes the bill’s passage as a big update for game preservation.

The technical challenge lies in how modern games are structured. Many titles rely on “always-online” requirements, meaning the game client on the user’s hard drive cannot function without communicating with a central server. When a publisher shuts those servers down, the game becomes unplayable, regardless of whether the user “owns” a copy.

The Protect Our Games Act seeks to mitigate this by requiring publishers to leave the game in a functional state. This typically involves releasing a final patch that removes the server requirement or providing the tools necessary for the community to host their own servers.

Who actually owns digital games?

The core of this legal battle is a dispute over the definition of ownership in the digital age. The BBC reports that the Stop Killing Games movement is essentially a fight over who owns the games you buy.

Under current industry standards, most digital storefronts do not sell a product in the traditional sense. Instead, they sell a limited, revocable license to access the software. This distinction allows publishers to terminate access at their discretion without violating traditional property laws.

By framing this as a consumer protection issue, the Protect Our Games Act attempts to shift the balance of power. If California’s laws mandate that a product must remain functional, it challenges the industry’s reliance on licensing agreements to justify the total removal of software from a user’s library.

What happens next for the legislation?

While the California State Assembly has passed the bill, it must still navigate the remainder of the legislative process. This includes potential votes in the State Senate and final approval from the Governor of California before it becomes law.

If enacted, the law could create a ripple effect across the gaming industry. Because California is one of the largest markets for technology and entertainment, publishers may find it easier to change their global end-of-life policies than to create a California-specific version of their software delivery and shutdown process.