California State Assembly passes landmark game preservation bill

• The bill passed 43 to 16 on the California Assembly floor.
• The law would apply only to games released or rereleased on or after January 1st, 2027.

The California State Assembly has passed the Protect Our Games Act to advance a landmark piece of legislation aimed at preserving access to purchased video games.

San Diego assembly member Chris Ward championed the bill, clearing the floor vote by 43 to 16.

The bill still needs to go through the California State Senate but could go on to compel companies to give players 60 days' notice before shutting down server-dependent games. 

Companies would also be required to specify which services are stopping, the exact shutdown date, which features will disappear, any known security risks and how players can seek a remedy. 

Operators would then be required to provide either an offline-playable version of the game, a patch enabling continued use or a full purchase price refund.

To the California State Senate

The law carries notable limits as it would apply only to games first released or rereleased on or after January 1st, 2027. It also exempts subscription services, free-to-play titles and games already available for permanent offline download at purchase. 

Enforcement sits with the California attorney general or district attorneys, not individual players.

The bill arrives amid growing international pressure. A UK petition reached 10,000 signatories in February 2025, though the UK government said it has no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence.

Consumer movement Stop Killing Games has been driving the effort since Ubisoft pulled The Crew not only from its servers but also from customers' libraries.