Charming Holiday is a news article writer from the United States who has been working with GameRant since August 2023 and self-publishing since May 2025. He is a former cultural policy advisor who has turned his focus to his lifelong passion of gaming. He lived and worked in South Korea from early 2016 to mid-2019 but has since returned to the greater Chicago area. His first console was the original PlayStation, though he now focuses on the Nintendo Switch and its growing library of first party and indie games. Charming is particularly fond of mystery point-and-click games and action adventure platformers (2D and 3D). Charming hopes to expand his talents into the gaming news industry with the ultimate goal of one day getting to write for and ship a game.
The conversation surrounding digital ownership of video games has continued to heat up, even reaching the Congressional level, with Democratic United States Representative Ritchie Torres of New York proposing a new Power to the Players Act to protect consumers from having the games they paid for being permanently disabled or removed from their libraries. Audiences have long debated the difference between renting and owning digital-only games, and the big announcement by Sony to end production of physical game discs has reignited a demand for legislation to protect players as a digital-focused future approaches.
When developer Rockstar Games first revealed that there would be no physical copies of Grand Theft Auto 6, many fans protested the lack of protections provided for digital-only games. Sony’s subsequent revelation that it would be ending any and all physical games discs for titles launching in January 2028 and beyond was met with even greater backlash and saw many players attempting to find a solution through boycotts, protests, and even legal assistance. It would seem that at least one political figure has heard these cries for changes in digital gaming, as Ritchie Torres is preparing to introduce brand-new legislation to Congress that aims to reshape the way developers and publishers make games available on digital platforms.
New Legislation Could Overhaul Digital Game Ownership
In a call with Kotaku, Representative Ritchie Torres explained that his Power to the Players Act is a new bill that he plans to propose to his constituents in Congress, and the legislation would specifically make it so players actually own any digital purchases, even well after the studios that make the titles have moved on. The Power to the Players Act would require digital games to feature offline modes that are still playable even if online servers are shut down and would enforce full ownership of digital purchases, rather than the selling of a digital game license that can expire at any time. It is presently unknown if Torres will have any cosponsors supporting the bill, and the proposal itself is no guarantee that any legislation will be passed. Still, gaming audiences have applauded the Power to the Players Act as a move in the right direction, though fans will want to temper expectations until an official vote on the bill is held by Congress.
