California bill stalls after ESA deems game servers illegal

A California bill designed to protect consumers from losing access to online games they have purchased has stalled in a state Senate committee after facing opposition from the video game industry's leading trade group. During a hearing on Monday, June 29, a representative of the Entertainment Software Association argued that player-run community servers, a common method for preserving online games, constitute piracy and are illegal.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 1921, known as the Protect Our Games Act, would require publishers of games dependent on online servers to provide at least 60 days' notice before shutting down those services. If a shutdown would render a game unplayable, the publisher would then be required to provide a playable version, a patch, or issue refunds to players. The bill had previously passed the California Assembly in May.

At the Senate committee hearing, Assemblymember Chris Ward, who authored the bill, cited community-hosted servers for games like Minecraft and Call of Duty as a viable way for games to remain functional after official support ends. In response, ESA Vice President of State Government Affairs Jennifer Gibbons stated that such servers are...