The debate has recently intensified regarding who owns the digital copies of games sold in company stores. On one hand, some companies believe they sell licenses to use the digital copies of their games, while on the other hand, players believe they buy the game for about $70, which gives them the right to own it even if the stores stop operating.
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A new bill proposed by Democratic U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres of New York aims to establish new regulations to govern the purchase of games through digital stores, taking the side of the players against the companies.
The new law gives consumers ownership of the game instead of just a license to use it that the owning company can revoke at any time, following the crisis caused by news of the shutdown of the servers for the game "NBA 2k25" that was released last September.
Despite the game's recent release, the company announced that it will cease operations on December 31st, approximately one year and three months after its release and consumer purchases.
The digital game ownership crisis has also witnessed widespread public mobilization, led by social pressure movements such as "Stop Killing Games" which calls for change in digital ownership.
Consumers also protested across social media platforms in continuous waves following Sony's recent decision to stop releasing physical games and rely solely on digital games, and its message clearly stating that buyers receive a digital usage license and not full ownership of the game.
Do US laws affect the rest of the world?
If the US Senate passes any new bill that requires game makers to grant users full ownership of digital games, the geographical scope of its application will be broad and extensive.
Players can always purchase games from US digital stores and are not bound by the digital stores designated for their country if they wish to purchase US versions of games, which are subject to the new regulations.
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