On Jun. 30, 2026, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) temporarily halted California Assemblymember Chris Ward’s Protect Our Games Act (AB 1921). The opposing party won the State Senate Committee by arguing that private servers, even after an online game is on the verge of shutdown, should be illegal without supervision. However, the ESA may have slipped its tongue on the gaming industry’s agenda of erasing private servers.
Why the Protect Our Games Act Failed to Pass the Senate
The Protect Our Games Act previously passed the California Assembly on its third revision on May 27. Ward, Stop Killing Games, and the board members negotiated to define the circumstances under which a developer can offer a user an offline version of their online-only game. One of the policies allows a personal server on a purchased copy under an operator’s supervision (Article 20664, Section 2-A).
When the ESA read through the passed California Assembly’s version, they countered that certain developers have limited intellectual property rights from the publisher. “The provision of AB 1921 proposed that these servers as a legitimate alternative to keep games running raises concerns on a publisher’s ability to enforce their IP rights,” the representatives stated.
Then continued, “In addition, private servers operating with no oversight from the publisher and do not uphold the same trust and safety standards. This could create an unsafe environment for players and be counter to the industry’s commitment to fostering safe and fun gameplay for all players.”
The ESA Makes Bold Claims on Private Servers
While the ESA does hold a valid point on limited IP rights from publishers, saying that players conducting private servers is illegal tells a different perspective. The organization’s vice president, Jennifer Gibbons, claims that they are an act of piracy.
She gave examples of Minecraft and Call of Duty, saying, “They are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft. [These games] have gotten a lot of criticism because of those community servers not employing the same safety standards that Microsoft does.”
Gibbons even responded to California state senator Caroline Menjivar as she compared it to the video game black market. “Yes. In fact, we consider it piracy. We have [two lawsuits] pending against private servers right now, and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the Notorious Market Reports on counterfeiting and piracy has named some of these big private servers as a notorious market.”
PC Gamer has confirmed that the USTR named particular servers as a notorious market, but there is no mention of private servers. Minecraft’s original creator, Notch, responded to the controversy, saying, “I feel the ESA is being incredibly scummy by pulling this. I’ve never liked them, but even less so now. I do not wish for my game to be used against people. This is borderline evil.“
Stop Killing Games is Not Giving Up
Due to the ESA’s conflicting arguments, gamers are more aware of their unsound logic. A SKG representative commented and informed after the Jun. 30 hearing. They said, “The ESA just said live in committee on the POG Act, that Minecraft servers are illegal. AB 1921 has officially failed in committee. The vote was 4 yes, three no, and the rest abstaining.
[…] Those abstentions matter. [Those votes] are not neutral. They have the same practical effect as a no, because the bill only advances if it gets a majority of yes votes. Not enough yeses means the bill stops here for this session.“
The volunteer proudly reflects, “SKG never expected to get this far. This was our first attempt, in our first year, in the United States, with a US budget of zero dollars. No paid staff in California. No war chest. No in-person lobbying. The timeline was so compressed that we could not get funding in place fast enough to put people in the building.
[…] We are not stopping. Not even close. Next session, we will come back with an in-person lobbying presence, the funding to do this properly, and a long list of [supportive organizations and developers] signed on in support.
We are not limiting this to California. We intend to introduce versions of this in other state legislatures, and we are seriously looking at the federal level. The ESA is about to learn what it’s like to fight on many fronts at once.” We hope for Stop Killing Games’ return to speak about the dying physical games media soon.
