There is an ongoing debate about the true ownership of digital games. More than once, we’ve seen players lose their collection of digital libraries when the store pulls the plug. Now, Steam is making it clear to players that they don’t own the games they purchase.
A recent Steam update has added a note that will clearly tell players that they are simply licensing the game rather than taking full ownership of the game they are purchasing through the platform.
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“Steam has made an update,” Mike Straw, senior editor for Insider-Gaming shared on Bluesky. “If you go to buy a game on the store, it tells you that you aren’t actually buying the game. Instead, you are licensing it.”
The actual message that players will see when they try to purchase a game is, “A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam”.
The platform may have been forced to include the disclosure due to a bill signed into law in California that requires digital storefronts to clearly reveal when a media being purchased is only a license to access. All digital art forms including movies, music, eBooks, TV shows, and video games are bound by the law.
“As retailers continue to pivot away from selling physical media, the need for consumer protections on the purchase of digital media has become increasingly more important,” California Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin said in a release at the time via The Verge.
“I thank the Governor for signing AB 2426, ensuring the false and deceptive advertising from sellers of digital media incorrectly telling consumers they own their purchases becomes a thing of the past.”
Although the implementation of the law will start in 2025, Steam appears to be the only major game storefront that has included a disclaimer. The disclaimer is not yet seen in the PlayStation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Epic Games Store.
The disclaimer is coming at a time when more developers and publishers are ditching physical copies of games in preference to digital copies because it makes distribution easier.
Let us know how you feel about spending money to license a game rather than owning it.
