The bill passed the State Assembly with bipartisan support and will now go to the State Senate.
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Cue the Final Fantasy victory music. The California State Assembly passed the Protect Our Games Act, which aims to preserve access to online games even after companies stop supporting them. Assemblymember Chris Ward, who introduced the AB 1921 bill, said it received 43 votes in favor and 16 against, and is now headed to the committee level of the State Senate.
The bill, first introduced in February, in its current form would impose new rules on publishers and “digital game operators” who de-list games, like what happened with Ubisoft and The Crew. The bill requires a company provide a two-month notice to game owners before they delist a game, a full refund if a game is delisted and a way for gamers to still play the game even if the publisher stops supporting it. If passed into law, the Protect Our Games Act would apply to digital games that are released on or after January 1, 2027, but games that are free or subscription-based wouldn’t be covered.
Of course, the bill still has some hurdles to clear, including winning over the State Senate and getting a signature from the California governor. However, the proposed laws have support from the Stop Killing Games initiative, which is also working on similar policy changes on the other side of the Atlantic. The campaign’s leaders recently attended a public hearing with the European Union’s Parliament in the hopes of establishing a similar law across the EU.
