{"id":295514,"date":"2026-09-28T12:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295514\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:18:12","slug":"proposed-pennsylvania-law-targets-publishers-that-kill-digital-games-publishers-must-provide-offline-mode-an-independent-server-patch-or-a-25-minimum-refund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295514\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Pennsylvania law targets publishers that kill digital games \u2014 publishers must provide offline mode, an independent server patch, or a 25% minimum refund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony<\/a>\u2019s announcement that it will cease physical disc production<\/a> by 2028 has got many fans and users outraged and concerned about what will happen to digital-only games once their servers go offline. Because of this, one Pennsylvania state senator filed a bill that would compel publishers to find a way to ensure that gamers would always have access to their games, even if their online support has already ended. According to Local 21 News<\/a>, Sen. John Kane (D), the Protect Our Games Act will require video game manufacturers to give their customers at least 60-day notice before ending access to the title.<\/p>\n

More importantly, it says that these companies must provide at least one of these options to affected gamers: allow for offline gaming, patch the title so that it could still be used online independently of the game\u2019s online servers, or to refund the title\u2019s cost at an amount equal to its highest price in the past 12 months, which should also not be lower than 25% of its initial sale price. If this law passes, this will offer some protection to gamers who often have no choice but to accept a game company\u2019s decision to end a title.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The bill is only at its early stages, and there\u2019s no telling how far it will go or if it will even be signed by the governor. Nevertheless, if it passes, it will force companies to ensure that their games remain playable even if they remove them from online stores, at least in Pennsylvania. Hopefully, this could set a precedent, and other states would soon follow suit. While this doesn\u2019t solve the ownership problem<\/a>, as you\u2019re still getting a license to use the game instead of owning it on a physical disc, you at least are ensured that you do not lose access to the game even if the company folds or loses interest in maintaining the title.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromTom’s Hardware<\/p>\n

This is exactly what the Stop Killing Games movement is fighting for, with the movement gaining support in both the EU and California. Unfortunately, none of its efforts have resulted in a law yet, with the EU declining to pursue new legislation in support of it. On the other hand, the California version of this bill has already passed a State Assembly vote, although it still has a long way to go before becoming law.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Google\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News<\/a>, or add us as a preferred source<\/a>, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sony\u2019s announcement that it will cease physical disc production by 2028 has got many fans and users outraged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-295514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}