California wants to stop publishers from killing online games, and it just made some progress
California is advancing the 'Protect Our Games Act' to address the issue of publishers shutting down online games. The proposed legislation would require publishers to maintain access to games or provide alternatives after official support ends. This movement gained momentum following the shutdown of Ubisoft's The Crew, highlighting concerns over game ownership.
- ▪California's 'Protect Our Games Act' has cleared a key legislative hurdle.
- ▪The bill would require publishers to keep games playable or provide refunds after support ends.
- ▪It applies to paid games released after January 1, 2027, while free-to-play titles remain exempt.
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Modern gaming has somehow normalized the idea that publishers can permanently shut down games people already paid for. Thankfully, California is now trying to push back against that with its proposed “Protect Our Games Act,” which has officially cleared another key legislative hurdle with strong backing from the Stop Killing Games movement. California’s new bill could force publishers to preserve online games If passed in its current form, the legislation would require publishers to either keep games playable after official support ends, provide an offline patch, release a standalone playable version, or issue refunds to players. The bill would reportedly apply to paid games released after January 1, 2027, while free-to-play and subscription-only titles would remain exempt.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Digital Trends.
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