Gaming Industry IP News: Multiple bills introduced in support of game preservation, Blizzard continues crackdown on WoW servers, Nintendo obtains $4.5 million judgment against SwitchPirates, and more

To help you stay on top of the latest intellectual property news in the gaming industry, we publish a monthly roundup of the developments we are following.

Multiple Bills Introduced in Support of Game Preservation Initiative

Engadget reports that the California State Assembly passed the Protect Our Games Act (i.e., AB 1921). The Bill was passed on May 27, 2026, and will now move forward for approval by the California State Senate. First introduced in February 2026 by Assemblymember Chris Ward, the Protect Our Games Act seeks to prevent publishers from delisting digital games (thereby preventing access to digitally purchased games). For example, the bill seeks to require publishers to: (1) provide adequate notice to purchasers or prospective purchasers of upcoming digital game delistings; (2) provide acceptable recourse to purchasers of a digital game upon the game being delisted; and (3) as of delisting, prevent publishers from selling copies of games that are no longer accessible. As the bill has percolated through the California legislature, it has already been non-negligibly neutered (e.g., the effective date was moved back from Jan. 1, 2027, to Jan. 1, 2028, and the list of acceptable recourse that can be provided by publishers to purchasers when delisting a game was greatly expanded), so we will have to wait and see what the ultimate bill looks like if and when it passes the California Senate.

Separately, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has indicated his intent to introduce the Power to the Players Act into the U.S. Congress. The Act would ensure “[c]onsumers … have the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer the games they buy.” Per Rep. Torres, “[n]o consumer should have a game they paid for pulled out from under them on a company’s arbitrary timeline.” While the Power To The Players Act has not yet been formally lodged in Congress (and, therefore, the text of the would-be bill is not yet available for public scrutiny), Rep. Torres stated that the legislation will “direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations protecting consumers’ ability to own and play the video games they purchase” and that “[g]ames with online functionality [will] be required to provide an offline mode before the servers supporting them are shut down.”

These legislative proposals come as game preservation advocacy groups, such as Stop Killing Games, are lobbying for better protections of digital ownership of games. Historically, publishers have crafted end-user license agreements (EULAs) sufficient to argue that digital “game ownership” is actually a form of digital license rather than formal ownership. These debates are particularly salient now, as Sony has recently announced an upcoming end to the production and sale of physical discs. It will be very interesting to continue to monitor this active space in the coming months.

Blizzard Continues Crackdown on Private World of Warcraft Servers

As chronicled by This Week in Videogames, in August 2025, Blizzard Entertainment filed a complaint in the Central District of California against AFKCraft Ltd., the makers of a prominent, unauthorized, private World of Warcraft (WoW) server known as “Turtle WoW.” “Turtle WoW” was designed to appeal to specific WoW players who desired what they referred to as “classic+,” a version of WoW as it existed from 2004-2006, but with new additions in the same spirit as the original release. The complaint alleged multiple counts of direct and indirect copyright infringement, as well as other IP-related claims. Subsequently, in April 2026, the district court judge found in favor of Blizzard and entered a permanent injunction against AFKCraft Ltd. Thereafter, in May 2026, another private World of Warcraft server named “Stormforge” ceased operations following a cease-and-desist that the developers received from Blizzard.

Further, in June 2026, as reported by Aftermath, Blizzard again filed suit in the Central District of California against purveyors of yet another WoW private server, “Project Ascension.” The complaint was filed by the same counsel and contains very similar allegations of misconduct by Project Ascension to those alleged against Turtle WoW, including direct and indirect copyright infringement. According to Blizzard, the creators of Project Ascension “have made millions of dollars” from the sale of a digital currency associated with Project Ascension. In September 2026, Project Ascension also was officially taken offline.

Clearly, Blizzard continues to be successful in having these private WoW servers discontinued. With a new classically inspired version of World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Forever, scheduled to release next month (i.e., an official “classic+”), Blizzard itself is attempting to capitalize on the public’s interest in an augmented classic version of the decades-old MMORPG. Given the surge of player interest in this new Blizzard-endorsed offering, it will be interesting to see if the number of private WoW servers being spun up begins to diminish.

Nintendo Obtains $4.5 Million Judgment Against SwitchPirates

In June 2024, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against James Williams (alias “Archbox”) in the Western District of Washington. The basis for the suit was copyright infringement and circumvention under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) arising from Williams’s operation of a network of Pirate Shops that offered unauthorized copies of Nintendo Switch game files (“ROMs”). Based on Williams’s failure to participate in the litigation process, Nintendo moved for default judgment in October 2025, requesting both a permanent injunction and damages of $4.5 million. As reported by Aftermath, this default judgment was granted. In particular, on September 23, 2026, Judge King of the Western District of Washington awarded $4.5 million in statutory damages for copyright infringement pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2) and enjoined Williams and all persons acting under his control from: (a) continuing to make available any online ‘shops’ which have offered pirated Nintendo Switch games; (b) marketing or selling any software whose use circumvents technological measures that control access to Nintendo’s games or consoles; (c) marketing or selling unauthorized copies of Nintendo video games; and (d) engaging in any further conduct that encourages members of the public to download or obtain circumvention software or any pirated Nintendo video games.

In our view, this case is probably about more than simply a $4.5 million award against one bad actor. Per Nintendo’s Motion for Default Judgment, Williams was a leading (and perhaps primary) moderator of the Reddit group called “SwitchPirates,” which allegedly has nearly 190,000 members. Further, Williams has purportedly posted “thousands of messages” to this group that solicit donations to enable further pirating activities. It would likely be very onerous for Nintendo to file suit simultaneously against each redditor within the group, especially since many of them likely have not actually pirated anything (but are solely in the Reddit group out of morbid curiosity). Given this, perhaps Nintendo wished to make an example out of one of the leaders of this group as a way to dissuade other members from carrying out the piratical actions advocated by their leaders.

Sony Divests Virtual Reality IP

Digital Foundry reported that, between June and September 2026, Sony sold 43 of its U.S. patents relating to virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), and augmented reality (AR) to Meta. Per GamesIndustry.Biz, this transfer is a part of a global transfer of 419 patents (180 of which are U.S. patents) that was agreed to in December 2025. Many commentators view this move by Sony as a signal that Sony is abandoning its VR efforts. That being said, this also comes on the heels of a recent announcement that Meta will be transitioning from the bulkier Meta Quest 3 headset to the Meta VR Glasses (five times lighter than the Meta Quest 3). The Meta VR Glasses are scheduled to be released in spring 2027. Hence, the acquisition of these large swaths of patents may equally signal a renewed interest from Meta in the technology.