Video games are not disposable software permissions. They are culture, art, entertainment, history, and personal property. For decades, players bought games with the expectation that ownership meant something: the right to play, keep, lend, trade, resell, preserve, and pass along the games they purchased.

As the video game industry moves toward an all-digital future, those rights must not disappear. Digital distribution cannot become a loophole that allows companies to sell games as products, treat them as rentals, revoke access without meaningful notice, eliminate resale markets, destroy preservation, or delete works from consumer libraries.

The central principle is simple:

If you sell it, we own it. If we do not own it, do not call it a sale.

And when a company refuses to sell, support, preserve, or provide lawful access to a game that consumers purchased, it cannot then use ownership law to punish consumers for preserving access to what they already bought.

If consumers cannot buy it, companies should not be able to claim consumers stole it merely by preserving access to it.

Article I — The Right to True Digital Ownership

Any video game marketed using words such as buy, purchase, own, library, collection, or similar language shall be treated as a consumer-owned digital product.
A consumer-owned digital game shall belong to the purchaser in perpetuity, subject only to narrow exceptions such as fraud, refund, chargeback, account theft, or a valid court order.
A company may not delete, revoke, disable, or remove a purchased game from a consumer’s digital library simply because the company no longer wishes to sell, support, distribute, license, or host the game.
If a company does not intend to provide permanent ownership, it must clearly and conspicuously state that the consumer is renting, subscribing to, or temporarily licensing access.
Any temporary license must disclose, before purchase and on the receipt:the start date of access;
the end date of access;
whether the game will remain playable after the license ends;
what features, if any, may expire earlier;
whether any refund, credit, or remedy is available if access ends early.
An indefinite license with no specific end date shall be legally treated as ownership.
No company may hide ownership limitations inside a user agreement, terms of service, end-user license agreement, or other document that is not clear and conspicuous at the point of sale.
 
Article II — The Right to Possession, Backup, and Continued Access

A consumer who purchases a digital game has the right to continued access to that game for as long as the platform, console, or system for which it was designed remains in operation.
A purchased digital game must remain downloadable by the purchasing consumer even if the game is later delisted from sale.
Before a platform, console, authentication service, or digital storefront is shut down, consumers must be offered a reasonable method to preserve access to their purchased games.
Such methods may include:offline installers;
local backups;
downloadable game packages;
external authentication tools;
ownership export tools;
migration to another storefront;
or another method that allows continued play.
A consumer may not be forced to remain connected to a company’s server merely to prove ownership of a single-player game indefinitely.
A single-player game sold as a purchased product must remain playable without an active subscription, excluding online multiplayer components.
 
Article III — The Right to Resell, Trade, Gift, and Lend

A consumer who owns a digital game has the right to resell that game.
A consumer who owns a digital game has the right to trade that game.
A consumer who owns a digital game has the right to gift or permanently transfer that game to another person.
A consumer who owns a digital game has the right to lend that game to another person, provided the original owner’s access may be temporarily disabled during the lending period.
Platforms may use secure technology to prevent duplication or fraud during transfer, but they may not use technology to eliminate the right of transfer itself.
Transfer systems may include digital certificates, cryptographic licenses, blockchain-based ownership records, NFT-like entitlement systems, or other secure methods.
The law shall remain technology-neutral. No single technology shall be required, but the consumer’s right to transfer ownership must be protected.
A platform may charge a reasonable transfer fee.
A platform that provides a built-in resale marketplace may charge reasonable seller fees, provided those fees are clearly disclosed and are not designed to prevent practical resale.
A platform may not prohibit resale, trade, gifting, or lending simply because a game was purchased digitally.
 
Article IV — The Right to Digital Store Competition

Console makers and platform holders may not use digital-only distribution to create a closed monopoly over game sales.
Third-party digital storefronts must be allowed to sell valid digital licenses for console games.
Retailers, publishers, and authorized sellers must be allowed to compete on price, bundles, promotions, and consumer terms.
Platform holders may not require price parity rules that prevent competing storefronts from offering lower prices.
Consumers must have the right to export or verify proof of ownership from one authorized storefront to another.
Hardware access and storefront control must be separate. Buying a console must not require consumers to purchase all games from a single company-controlled store.
Platform holders may enforce reasonable security and anti-fraud standards, but such standards may not be used as a pretext to block lawful competition.
 
Article V — The Right to Game Preservation

Video games are cultural works and an art form worthy of preservation.
A company that sells a game must provide an end-of-life plan before or at the time of sale.
The end-of-life plan must explain:whether the game requires servers;
which features depend on servers;
what happens if servers shut down;
what minimum period of support is promised;
whether offline access, private-server tools, LAN play, or other preservation options will be provided.
If a game becomes unplayable because required servers are shut down before the stated end-of-life date, consumers shall be entitled to a refund, partial refund, credit, or comparable remedy.
If servers are shut down outside the terms of the published end-of-life plan, consumers shall be entitled to a remedy.
For online-only games, the online-only nature of the game must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed before purchase.
Publishers should provide an offline patch, LAN mode, private-server tools, server binaries, or another preservation method when commercially reasonable and technically feasible.
Libraries, museums, universities, archives, and preservation organizations shall have the legal right to preserve, study, exhibit, and maintain access to abandoned, delisted, or unsupported games.
Preservation rights shall not authorize commercial counterfeiting, mass piracy, or unauthorized sale of copied games.
 
Article VI — The Right Against Digital Erasure

Delisting a game from sale shall not remove the game from the libraries of consumers who already purchased it.
A purchased game may not be replaced with an inferior version without the consumer’s consent.
For non-online-service games, consumers have the right to retain the game substantially as it existed when purchased.
This includes the right to retain:the original campaign;
original modes;
original music;
original art;
original licensed content;
purchased downloadable content;
and free content claimed by the consumer while it was offered.
Updates may not be used to remove material features from a purchased non-service game without offering consumers a way to retain or access the prior version.
Companies must provide at least 90 days’ notice before removing material functionality from a paid game.
Single-player campaigns must remain accessible even if multiplayer servers, seasonal content, or online features are discontinued.
 
Article VII — The Right to Physical-to-Digital Continuity

A company is not required to provide backward compatibility for every prior generation of hardware.
However, if a company advertises or claims backward compatibility, it must provide a practical way for consumers to use the compatible games they already own.
If a console maker removes the disc drive from future hardware while claiming compatibility with physical games, it must offer either:an external disc authentication device;
a disc-to-digital conversion process;
or another reasonable method for consumers to access compatible physical games.
A consumer shall not be required to surrender a physical disc in order to receive a digital entitlement.
Authentication systems may verify ownership, but they may not destroy or confiscate the original physical copy.
 
Article VIII — The Right to Clear Subscription and Cloud Gaming Terms

Subscription games must be clearly labeled as temporary access.
Subscription games may not be advertised as “free” if continued access requires an active paid subscription.
Monthly claimed games, loyalty games, or subscription-included games must disclose the terms of access clearly.
Access to subscription-claimed games may be limited to the period during which the consumer remains subscribed, provided this limitation is clear before the claim or purchase.
Cloud-only games must clearly disclose that the consumer receives no local playable copy.
Cloud-only limitations must be disclosed before purchase and may not be buried in a user agreement.
A purchased digital game must be playable without an active subscription unless the game is clearly sold as a subscription-only or cloud-only product.
Online multiplayer access may require a subscription only if that requirement is disclosed before purchase.
 
Article IX — The Right to Fair Account Enforcement

A multiplayer ban shall not revoke access to single-player games purchased by the consumer.
A conduct violation in one game shall not justify deletion of an entire purchased library.
A company may restrict online services when necessary for safety, fraud prevention, cheating prevention, or community protection, but such restrictions must be proportionate.
Consumers must have access to a meaningful appeal process before permanent loss of purchased content.
If an account is compromised, falsely banned, or wrongfully locked, the consumer must have a reasonable way to recover or transfer purchased games.
Purchased game libraries may not be used as leverage to force acceptance of unrelated terms, forced arbitration changes, new data practices, or unrelated platform policies.
 
Article X — The Right to Accessibility and Compatible Control

Consumers have the right to use accessibility tools that allow them to play games they lawfully own.
Platforms and publishers may not use DRM or access-control systems to block legitimate accessibility tools.
Accessibility devices and alternate controllers should be designed to work with traditional control mechanisms wherever possible.
Publishers should not be required to redesign every game around every possible device, but they may not intentionally block reasonable accessibility solutions without a legitimate security, safety, or technical reason.
The right to own a game does not create a general right to modify the game’s underlying code.
This bill does not create a general right to distribute mods, fan patches, translation patches, performance patches, or modified versions of a game.
Nothing in this article prevents lawful accessibility accommodations, preservation measures, or consumer repair rights.
 
Article XI — The Right to Repair and Maintain Access

Consumers have the right to repair consoles, storage devices, controllers, and other hardware necessary to access their purchased digital games.
A company may not use hardware failure, storage failure, account migration, or discontinued devices as a means to eliminate access to purchased games.
Consumers must have a reasonable way to move their purchased library to replacement hardware.
Anti-tamper, DRM, or security systems may not be used to prevent lawful repair or recovery of purchased games.
 
Article XII — The Right to Lawful Self-Preservation

When a company sells a game as a purchased product, it assumes a duty to provide continued access consistent with ownership.
If a company removes a purchased game from a consumer’s library, shuts down all reasonable access, refuses backup access, disables authentication, or otherwise makes the purchased game unavailable, the consumer shall have the right to restore personal access.
This right may include lawful circumvention of DRM, authentication systems, or access controls solely for the purpose of preserving access to a game the consumer already purchased.
This right may include obtaining or creating a replacement copy solely for personal use when no lawful commercial access remains available.
This right does not authorize commercial piracy, mass distribution, counterfeit sales, or uploading copyrighted works for general public distribution.
A company that refuses to sell, support, distribute, preserve, or provide access to a purchased game may not use copyright, contract law, or anti-circumvention law to punish the consumer for maintaining personal access to that purchased game.
The law shall recognize a distinction between piracy for profit and preservation of personal ownership.
If companies want the full protection of ownership law, they must recognize the consumer’s ownership as well.
 
Article XIII — Enforcement

Violations of this bill shall be treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices.
Consumers shall have a private right of action when a company unlawfully revokes, deletes, disables, or materially devalues purchased digital games.
State attorneys general, consumer protection agencies, and competition regulators may enforce these rights.
Remedies may include:restoration of access;
refunds;
statutory damages;
attorney fees;
injunctive relief;
preservation orders;
and penalties for deceptive sales practices.
A company may not require consumers to waive these rights through terms of service, forced arbitration, class-action waivers, EULAs, or platform agreements.
Any contract term that conflicts with these rights shall be void as against public policy.
 
Closing Declaration

Gamers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the basic rights consumers already understood when they bought cartridges, discs, and physical media.

The move to digital should make games more accessible, not less ownable.

It should expand competition, not eliminate it.

It should protect art, not erase it.

It should serve players, not trap them.

A digital future without ownership is not progress. It is a rental economy disguised as a marketplace.

Therefore, the rights of video game consumers must be clear:

If you sell it, we own it.
If we do not own it, do not call it a sale.
If you erase it, we have the right to preserve it.