California bill to keep games playable passes first vote

The game preservation debate just got a serious legal milestone. California’s Protect Our Games Act has passed its first vote in the Assembly by 43 to 16 and will now move to the State Senate. The bill is tied to the wider Stop Killing Games movement and aims to stop paid games from becoming completely unplayable after publishers shut down servers.

That issue has only become louder as live-service games, always-online design and digital ownership have become normal. Players are increasingly asking a simple question: if they paid for a game, should a company be allowed to make it vanish entirely later? Publishers will argue that server costs, licensing and technical realities are complicated, and they are not wrong. But the pressure is growing.

The California vote does not settle the fight, but it proves the issue is moving beyond angry forums into actual policy.

Source: Insider Gaming - https://insider-gaming.com/stop-killing-games-bill-passed-first-vote/