{"id":6169,"date":"2026-06-09T17:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T17:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:35","slug":"misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Immersive, online video games have transformed entertainment, bringing millions of players together from around the globe. But now, a proposed California law is threatening the modern gameplay experience by misunderstanding how online services work.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/emergency-hi-lo-warning-sound-to-roll-out-for-new-sacramento-police-cars\/\">Emergency Hi-Lo warning sound to roll out for new Sacramento police cars<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Under Assembly Bill 1921, the Protect Our Games Act, when a game publisher decides to shut down a \u201cserver-connected\u201d digital game, developers would be forced to choose between keeping it running indefinitely, rebuilding the game to work without technical support or providing a full refund to everyone \u2014 no matter how long ago they played or how much time they spent in that particular game.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The legislation would apply to both new video games and existing games that are remastered or re-released.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The bill, authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, intends to provide consumers with a guarantee that if they pay for access to play an online game, they will keep that access for as long as they want. But this bill shows a fundamental lack of knowledge about how games are built and maintained today.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Behind every online game is an enormous, invisible infrastructure. There are large teams working to uncover bugs, push product patches and update game content. Moderators enforce codes of conduct to facilitate positive experiences for players. And servers, designed to accommodate millions of players, must be maintained.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When a game\u2019s popularity fades, that infrastructure continues to run, for a fraction of the audience, at nearly the same cost.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, many of today\u2019s popular games include licensed music, likeness rights and branding that might be time-limited. A legal requirement to keep games playable indefinitely will put game publishers in an impossible situation where they are either renegotiating licenses in perpetuity or altering games to change the creator\u2019s original intent and gameplay experience.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>This proposal essentially keeps games alive long after their natural lifecycle, draining resources and energy from creating what comes next. Every dollar spent on outdated systems is a dollar not spent on building a new one. Maintaining legacy systems is inefficient and expensive, and those costs get passed on to consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/dusty-bakers-crossroads-lands-today-5-takeaways-for-sacramento-baseball-fans-2\/\">Dusty Baker\u2019s \u2018Crossroads\u2019 lands today: 5 takeaways for Sacramento baseball fans<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>If every game becomes a permanent obligation, companies will make fewer of them \u2014 especially the ambitious, online worlds that today\u2019s players love most.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>AB 1921 bill creates an entirely new, unprecedented category of consumer products. We don\u2019t expect innovators to continue supporting their very first car model, their original smartphone or an outdated operating system software, but this bill suggests that online video games should last forever. This comes at great expense to the original creators and is in direct conflict with the basic principles of America\u2019s longstanding copyright laws.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>This bill may sound consumer friendly, but it ultimately hurts both players and creators. Many games today are live, connected experiences that depend on online communities and evolving content. Not to mention, nearly two thirds of video game software companies in the U.S. operate with less than 10 employees.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>You cannot demand \u201cforever\u201d from video game developers without hampering their ability to create new games that provide the kinds of experiences players love and have come to expect.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>AB 1921 doesn\u2019t just misunderstand games. It undermines the very thing it claims to protect.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>Stanley Pierre-Louis is president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/measles-found-in-wastewater-in-this-california-county-who-is-most-at-risk\/\">Measles found in wastewater in this California county. Who is most at risk?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cA proposed California law is threatening the modern gameplay experience by misunderstanding how online services work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viewpoints"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cA proposed California law is threatening the modern gameplay experience by misunderstanding how online services work.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Diego Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c\"},\"headline\":\"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Viewpoints\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/\",\"name\":\"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674,\"caption\":\"The LAN Center at Impact Gaming Center includes 24 PCs, each loaded with more than 70 games.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/09\\\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"San Diego Relocation News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News","og_description":"\u201cA proposed California law is threatening the modern gameplay experience by misunderstanding how online services work.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/","og_site_name":"San Diego Relocation News","article_published_time":"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c"},"headline":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion","datePublished":"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/"},"wordCount":591,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg","articleSection":["Viewpoints"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/","url":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/","name":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion - San Diego Relocation News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-09T17:31:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a1546187e2b99445d59eade685b26d42.jpg","width":1200,"height":674,"caption":"The LAN Center at Impact Gaming Center includes 24 PCs, each loaded with more than 70 games."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/misguided-california-bill-would-harm-video-game-makers-players-opinion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Misguided California bill would harm video game makers, players | Opinion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/","name":"San Diego Relocation News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/39a645eab67a60386560a5271220d58c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}