California’s AB 1921, the “Protect Our Games Act” championed by the Stop Killing Games campaign, passed the California State Assembly by a vote of 43–16 – marking the first time a U.S. legislative chamber has formally advanced a bill designed to protect players from publishers shutting down games they paid for, as reported by Kotaku. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Chris Ward, passed with strong Democratic support and two Republican yes votes, while 15 Republicans and one Democrat voted against it. For the Stop Killing Games movement and game preservation advocates broadly, this is the biggest concrete legislative result the campaign has produced since it launched.
Here’s the context: Stop Killing Games was founded by activist Ross “Ross Scott” in early 2024 following Ubisoft‘s decision to permanently shut down The Crew on March 31, 2024 – a game players had purchased outright but could no longer access once the servers went dark. The campaign, which has gathered over 30,000 petition signatures, pushed for laws requiring publishers to leave games in a playable state after ending support. AB 1921 is the direct legislative result: it applies to digitally sold, purchased games released or resold on or after January 1, 2027, and excludes free-to-play titles, subscription service games like those on Game Pass or PS Plus, and games already fully playable offline. It’s a pattern we’ve seen play out painfully before – live-service games pulling the plug on paying customers with little warning and no recourse.
Under the bill, publishers would be required to give at least 60 days’ notice before shutting down support for a server-dependent game, then either provide a way for owners to keep playing – through an offline mode, community-server support, a patch, or an alternative version – or offer refunds if continued access isn’t possible. The bill would also prohibit the continued sale of games that have become unplayable due to service termination, targeting what advocates call “zombie sales.” With Bungie winding down active development on Destiny 2 and titles like Warzone being delisted from platforms entirely, the problem this bill addresses isn’t hypothetical – it’s happening right now.
Honestly, the 43–16 vote is genuinely meaningful, but it’s worth being clear-eyed about what the California Assembly passing a bill actually means versus what it will take to make this law. The industry is already pushing back hard – Video Games Europe, representing publishers including Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, and Warner Bros., has warned that requirements like AB 1921 could impose “exorbitant production costs” on companies. That framing deserves scrutiny: the same industry that generates billions in live-service revenue annually is pleading poverty over the cost of building offline functionality or issuing refunds when it pulls the plug. The track record here is not good – publishers have repeatedly sunset games with minimal notice and zero compensation, and the argument that compliance is prohibitively expensive looks a lot thinner when you stack it against the profit margins on games-as-a-service titles.
What remains unclear is whether AB 1921 has the Senate votes to survive committee hearings, which are expected in June, and whether opposition from industry trade groups will be enough to stall or water down the bill before it reaches a full Senate vote. It’s also genuinely uncertain how enforcement would work in practice – who investigates violations, what the penalties are, and whether smaller publishers face the same obligations as major platform holders. The governor’s signature remains a final hurdle even if the Senate passes it. The next concrete moment to watch is those June Senate committee hearings.
Do you think AB 1921 goes far enough to protect players from live-service shutdowns, or are there gaps in the bill’s scope that worry you? And have you ever lost access to a game you paid for when a publisher pulled the plug – and what should publishers owe you when that happens? Sound off in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more game preservation and live-service coverage.
