The bill that Californian lawmakers have submitted known as the "Protect Our Games Act" is now heading towards a full floor vote in the California State Assembly, taking it a step closer to being made into law.
Should this be passed into law, gamers will no longer have to worry about developers or publishers announcing that they are ending support for the title as these will be preserved for everyone to access.
California's 'Protect Our Games Act' Is Coming to Floor Vote
According to Engadget, the bill has since cleared the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Appropriations Committee as of press time, and this means that the Assembly can now take it up for a full vote.
The bill was introduced by Assembly member Chris Ward to the California Assembly in February 2026.
Stop Killing Games, a game preservation group pushing for similar protections in the EU and UK, advised on the creation of this bill. The group shared news of its involvement back in March and has expressed satisfaction with how quickly the bill has progressed.
Bill to Help Preserve Online Games After End of Support
The core problem the bill is trying to solve is a familiar one to anyone who has lost access to a game they paid for. Live service games might be sold as a one-time purchase, but they need an internet connection and server infrastructure to function as designed.
Once a developer or publisher wants to stop maintaining that infrastructure, the game is effectively dead. If passed in its current form, the bill would require game publishers or "digital game operators" to give a warning to players at least 60 days before they shut down the servers that are necessary to run a game.
After which, they are made to issue a full refund or a software patch that will keep the game or a version of it playable that can work independently from its original servers.
The law would not apply to free games or games accessible only via subscription, and it would only cover titles released on or after January 1, 2027.
There is still a long path through the California State Assembly and State Senate before the bill can be signed into law, with it bringing promising protections for consumers and the games they very much love.
Originally published on Player One
