While it should be obvious at this point, it bears repeating: you don’t own your digital games. When you purchase a digital game, you are purchasing a user license. Unlike buying a physical video game, where you buy the game itself, digitally you only buy the option to use it. If companies decide to no longer give you permission to use it, they have the right to do so. And although they usually don’t do it because it would be very bad publicity, that doesn’t mean that, legally, they can’t do it.
This is something that Gavin Newsom, governor of California, has decided to deal with radically. By signing AB 2426, all digital stores, including those that offer video games, will be required to indicate that you are acquiring a user license, and not any product. This is why, from 2025, websites that sell digital products will not be able to use the words “buy” or “acquire”, at least as long as they are deployed on North American territory..
This law is a response to situations like those we experienced this year with companies like Ubisoft or PlayStation. In April of this year, The Crew disappeared from the libraries of people who purchased it at the time, as it was deemed obsolete after the game’s servers were shut down. Likewise, In March, Sony blocked thousands of players from accessing the Stellar Blade demo after accidentally uploading it to their store, violating their right to access a game they had already purchased.
Although this will only apply to the United States for now, it can be assumed that Europe and other territories will follow suit in the future. Unless many companies directly decide to standardize their language from the start, regardless of territory, so as not to have to deal with the possibility of this happening.
Not only applicable to video games, but also to all kinds of digital goods such as films, music or ebooks, among others, this law is a movement towards the protection of consumer rights. This is why, also, stores that offer services that can be used without an Internet connection and that cannot be removed from their devices in any way, will still be able to use the terms “buy” or “acquire” considering that they are offering products, not licenses. Creating a new and interesting future scenario for digital consumption.
