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A newly signed Californian law known as AB 2426 will require that digital storefronts operating within the American state (which, if it were a country, would have the fifth largest economy in the world) tell its customers they are licensing goods and not purchasing products. Sony obviously does a lot of business in California, with several of its first-party studios located there, and this may mean it will be restricted from using misleading terms like "purchase" or "buy" for digital products on the PS Store.
AB 2426 will come into effect next year, and it has some interesting implications (thanks, PSLS). If, for example, Sony wants to use terms meant to convey that the consumer owns a purchased digital good, it will need to obtain an acknowledgement from the consumer or provide a clear statement that the product is really a license that can be revoked. Failing to do so would make Sony subject to a fine for false advertising. In a press release, assembly member Jacqui Irwin said of the new law:
"AB 2426 will ensure the false and deceptive advertising from sellers of digital media incorrectly telling consumers they own their purchases becomes a thing of the past."
Are you looking forward to more popups on the PS Store and more creative ways of describing what a digital game is? In the comments section below, hold your physical games close and whisper sweet nothings.
[source a42.asmdc.org]
Comments 76
That's nice. But I'd rather there be a law saying companies are legally obligated to honor digital ownership and can't just revoke a license without at least giving consumers the ability to store digital assets outside of a company's controlled ecosystem.
Maybe one day...
This seems a bit much. As long as no online authorization is required you should be able to play a digital game forever.
That said, cloud streaming games should NEVER EVER be allowed to be sold because you are not buying anything and you are not owning anything, it’s like saying you are buying stuff you watch on Netflix or the BBC for the UK. Not saying cloud gaming shouldn’t exist, I have no problem with rental or subscription services, but streaming is so obviously NOT buying that I don’t understand how it has ever even been allowed. Stadia should have shown that. Not sure how it’s still a thing. 🤑
Rent until further notice.
Thankyou for your money.
It’s absolutely a good step. You aren’t buying any of this, you’re buying a license. It’s like saying you’ve bought a painting, when in fact you’ve bought the right to view the painting at the real owner’s discretion, and it can be revoked at any time. If digital games aren’t real ownership then they should be a fraction of the physical price given there’s close to zero distribution overheads.
If it weren't for California (and the European Union), a lot of the U.S. would be so much worse than it is now. Good ol' California often passes sensible laws that companies follow and apply across the whole country since it is the most populous and powerful state.
Just recently California passed the Click to Cancel law. My backwards state won't ever do anything like that, so I'm hoping we get the benefits of California's law.
@The_Wailing_Doom what state is that if it’s ok to ask?
Don't they already state you're buying a licence to use the game in the fine print or something?
@RoomWithaMoose That wouldn’t be a license though.
Just more of why physical is better. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with buying digital games, especially at deep discounts. But at least with physical you do own it. Then again, games today are just downloading the disc. But I mean, at least we own it?
@The_Wailing_Doom The first time I have seen a positive and sensible comment about my state on the internet in a long time. We do bully other states with consumer protection laws but it’s for their own good 🤣
Yeah it's a "rent" with the company can take the license anytime they want and you can't do nothing about it.
@MrMagic You know people never reads the fine print lol.
I thought if I buy a game at the massive price of $100 through the store then I own it. And its only tied to that account.
So they are saying for example I purchase GTA6 and Sony decides to fully remove it then I have lost the capability to play it? Wouldn't that mean I am owed money back? So that would go for Steam too? What would happen to physical games in that some require a download to work and Sony removes that game off the server?
Technically this should mean all digital should be much less in price compared to physical
Hmmmm….. this is going to be interesting…..🤔
Digital. You really don’t own what you purchased.
Physical. You don’t really own ALL of what you purchased.
The moment Sony revokes anything is the moment we split ways for good. I will consider it theft and dishonorly conduct.
Without the correct server a lot of physical media is also bricked.
I read the other day that there is a Tony Hawk's game that is now basically impossible to play.
@RoomWithaMoose its a start mate. California recently enacted a consumer digital rights act similar to what the EU has. Both laws protect consumers digital privacy. They don't go far enough yet IMO. But if they existed decades ago. Companies like google wouldn't be fifthly rich off of you and I's data. In which they have been invasive for decades selling off information. I digress. As a physical media owner for all types of content this is still a win for us physical owners too. As like you said there should be provisions in place if digital consumers want to download their Game to their own hard drive (or SSD) or to a blank blu-ray disc.
None of this matters. Physical will continue to die no matter what anyone wants.
This is a very good thing for every consumer no matter if they are into digital or physical media. Every country in the west needs these types of laws. The only protest against these types of measures are from lifeless corporate entities whom want everyone to be locked into their servers forever. So that they can control the narrative with their ecosystems. This is not just a Sony thing but every company is doing this. Again a complete win and I hope that it is further expanded. As this will allow digital owners to store their games on blank blu-ray discs or their own physical storage systems. So whenever in the future someone down the line in their families wants to play an old game. All they have to do is retrieve their created physical image.
Now all that's left is for them to eliminate micropayments in games.
@Lavishturtle Physical media will never completely die as there are those like me in the world whom will always pay a premium for it. This law gives people more options. And more options is good for the consumer. Even if everyone else remains ignorant to the goals of digitization.
Wont change a thing. Nothing. It’s just so lawmakers can look tough.
There will just be a new line in the terms and conditions or an appendix on the buying page.
I'm a professional programmer so I can shed some light on the future of this: text labels "Buy" will be soon replaced with "Pay to borrow this game until we close the digital store or a worse remastered but more expensive version of this game becomes available"
Governments love to make grand stands on issues that affect the public by making laws that make corporations use different words to do exactly what they already do. If this law isn't about changing the policy of licenses and ownership and is about changing verbiage it's either a toothless charade by a politician looking for votes or is, especially coming from California where most of the licensing companies are located from film to music to games, is probably a law written by and pushed by the licensing companies themselves to reduce their own legal burden over ownership suits while forcing their peers too have to look bad with them all at once.
Thank you for your license activation!
Thank you for your license activation!
Thank you for your license activation!
Thank you for your license activation!
@RoomWithaMoose I also dream for this to become reality, maybe by the time the PS7 releases?
There is no such thing as ownership when it comes to games (or movies or music). Even on the physical box it clearly states that you’re buying a license to play the game.
@Medic_alert Yeah. You do have a point. Which is why I mentioned how discs now are just downloaded or scanned or whatever to the consoles anymore.
If Sony continues the direction of Digital Only, it must be forced to allow other digital market places for game vendors to allow price competition. In the EU, Apple has been forced to open up its ecosystem to other app stores and while it’s still preliminary, it’s a must have against the monopoly these digital only companies else have.
So, you cant buy any products on PC? This has much less to do with consumer protection and much more to with those in Silicon Valley who'd rather charge you a yearly licence to use products insted of giving you any ownership.....
Digital copies of purchased games will eventually disappear one day or the other, that's without doubt. Already now, PS3 and Vita game are at risk, they are still downloadable, but for how long ? Kindle was the first to apply this rule if I remember correctly, books disappeared from e-book readers without notice.
Also, being a license it doesn't necessarily mean that automatically the license "can be revoked", it all depends by the terms in the contract.
@MrMagic it buried in the terms an conditions that no one reads .
Didn't Sony do this before, in that they removed DriveClub off the store and servers, so anyone with digital would never be able to download it again, plus the physical editions were just coasters since the game wouldn't work anyway. A lot of physical has keys that go online and verify with the servers. So even physical you don't really own.
Sounds easy enough to circumvent with a new user agreement prompts that just explains the term "Buy game" simply means that you are buying a license to play the game..
I get the slight feeling consumers will still get the shaft due to semantics on this one.
Also, hasn't this been the case since uhh, forever?
You technically don't own a VHS, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, you own the license for a copy.
@DIGIT2021 You can always redownload purchased product if you payed for it atleast with games I never saw it get revoked.
Is this only for Sony isn't this for all digital products? I always get the physical copy so I can resell it.
@IamJT your state ruined playstation 😛
You may OWN a disc and its case - physical objects you can hold but you don't own the Software that's on it and its just a 'licence' that's on the disc that you do own which, like a digital game/licence, can be revoked at any time.
Its no different in essence - you don't own the game whether you buy Physical or Digital. The disc is just a 'delivery' system to get the Software to the Customer, just like Downloading, so that the Software is installed and accessible on the Customers hardware.
However, the 'key' to access is the Licence. With Digital, that is stored and locked to your 'digital' Profile but with Physical, that is stored on Disc requiring you to put the disc in to open the door to the software to play. Without the disc, the software installed on your Hardware is unplayable because you don't own the Software, don't have the 'license' to play.
Its the same with PS+ games - you have the License as long as you remain Subscribed but as soon as you let PS+ lapse, all those games they gave you 'free' become unplayable, not yours to play anymore - your conditional license, the condition being you have to have at least PS+ Essential subscription to play the Software and without that license, access is revoked
Access is 'revoked' if you damage, lose or sell your Game Disc - it is required as it has the License Key on it. Lose access to your digital account, you can't play ANY of 'your' games and whilst you may be able to access the games on disc as they have the license on disc, they don't save your progress etc - they don't have your 'game', your character you created etc.
Physical doesn't preserve games - if you want to play in the future, chances are it will be 'locked' to a generation (like PS4 games) and if your hardware doesn't have a Disc Drive, you lose access unless you 'keep' your PS4 or buy a compatible Disc Drive.
If you downloaded the game, you have access forever until the console breaks right?
Good move by Cali.
Next step is to make digital ownership an actual thing. I personally find it abhorrent that one can spend thousands on digital goods but that I can't leave the contents of my account to a loved one in a will or something. Appreciate there is a lot of IP law involved.
XBox was actually ahead of the curve on this with their initial conception for the XBOne and how licences would need to be checked daily - the 'always online' thing. That would be necessary in a world with transferrable licences, i.e. where you could sell or lend your digital game to a friend (with them, and probably the game publisher, taking a cut I am sure).
This just means there will be new terms of service to agree to before consumers can continue using the store. Nothing to write news about in my opinion.
Odd to see a state, or any type of government, caring more about corporate lies than customers.
You can have the game forever in your ssd, is not that diferent with physical, you "buy" the disc, but try to play without the day one update
@Digit2021 not really you paid for a service and you've used that service. Even if it's a limited timescale , say 5-10years . You don't get your money back if you paid for a taxi /train and used it. Same idea. As servers cost a lot of money to run and can't be operated indefinitely
Most physical copies still work without internet. If a disc requires the internet to function, then don't buy it. It's quite simple. Most Nintendo Switch cartridges read from the cartridge without the need for internet. If it's one of those that requires a download, I just ignore the game. There aren't as many games that are simply digital keys as people think.
@Yousef-
Ohio. It's gerrymandered to hell.
That's a right step in a progressive pro-consumer rights direction. Nice one, California!
@Pranwell and so are most people. Heck the entire PC market is. lol. Across the whole gaming sector 95% of revenue is digital. Companies follow the money and they see that people WANT digital. I know it doesn’t fit the narrative of those die hard physical fans but it’s just reality.
@Digit2021 if you buy a disc and it needs a download you're not downloading from Sony but the company that publishes the game
@TrickyDicky99 legally you only own the case and the plastic disc, not the software installed on it. In the old days with the complete game on disc/cartridge that didn’t matter because as you stated above there was no practical way to revoke it. But today’s incomplete games on disc are glorified tokens for day 1 patches.
@Vaako007 I reckon the move to the add-on disc drive will also help keep physical around a little longer for those of us still buying it. I know its not the most popular change with the new slim / pro moels but I can see it being the default going forward with the PS6 and will be a simple but effective solution to backwards compatabilty for physical enjoyers.
@nomither6 That’s more like it!
@Medic_alert This is a very good point. Bring back the megadrive with fully completed games on the cartridge 👌. I hadn't actually realised until recently this very point you have made. I prefer physical games but it's now becoming less important win games being shipped broken 😭
What difference, truly, will this make? The law may require digital storefronts to be clearer that you are purchasing a license and that you don't actually own a game ... but you will still be purchasing a license and not actually own it. Big whoop!
Most of us on here are probably well aware of this already, but even if you aren't, it's highly unlikely that this law will change either consumer or companies' behaviour. With consumers, the direction of travel has been clear for a long time now - most people simply prefer digital over physical, the numbers very clearly show this. I mean, are PC gamers suddenly going to abandon Steam, Epic etc. and go back to discs? Obviously not, and this is almost certainly the future of console gaming as well.
And what exactly are we expecting companies to do differently either? Stop selling you a license and instead sell you ... what? No company would be foolish enough to claim that a digital purchase means a 100% guarantee that you will always and forever be able to access it (as you might with a physical copy), so why on earth would they put themselves in the legally treacherous position of saying that, yes, you do 'own' it?
Frankly, this is just another law that may sound good on paper, but which will have little material impact.
@Mr_B021 While it's true that you don't technically own the contents of a physical release, there's actually a helpful site (DoesItPlay) that lets you check if the version of a game on a disc or cartridge is playable without an internet connection and without additional downloads. (So basically, whether or not you'll still be able to play it in a decade or two when the servers are no longer online and there's no legal way to get all the bugfixes, etc.)
I've referenced it quite a bit when deciding whether to buy the physical release of a game.
Some games are basically unplayable without all the Day 1 patches, but a surprising number work perfectly well out of the box. And if you don't need to buy right away, sometimes reprints of games (which that site also tracks) will include a later, more stable version with all the post-release patches.
You'll own nothing and be happy
@Czar_Khastik We'd need to abbreviate, make people more confused. How about BFN "Buy for now."
If they want to pull the game, you will have nothing left. The law will just force them say acquire license.
Very good first step in the right direction - hopefully not the last.
They are gonna use the smallest and most faint font possible for that information lol. It sucks cause we are like 10 years behind on laws in the digital realm.
Was this law written by Ubisoft? Just play right into their hands why dontcha.
Digital gaming hasn't seen a case of a company removing players libraries yet (either by closing down or just a business choice.) even the earliest digital libraries, PS3, Wii, psp they still let you download stuff you already bought.
It'll happen sooner or later though.
Anyone saying this won't change much really underestimate the amount of people who genuinely believe they own a digital game and have the right to always play it forever just because they paid for it. The same goes for physical copies of a game though. No I e actually owns the game. They just own the physical disk, and a license to play the game on the disk. People have very little understanding of what they actually own vs what they simply pay to have a license for when it comes to video games.
@Xenofastiq you have more rights with a physical copy. The right to resell it for a start. Also it can't be taken away from you. Yes you don't 'own' the game, but you certainly own the physical item.
@LavenderShroud Yeah, if the files ever were to get deleted, you still wouldn't own anything, disc or no disc. For a while now I've been keeping a list of my digital purchases, should they ever disappear from my account somehow.
@Jayofmaya Damn, That’s pretty smart.
@Balosi The license for your physical copy can absolutely be taken away. Just because you have bought a physical copy does NOT mean that your license to play the game can't be revoked. You're free to do whatever you'd like with the physical items, as far as the actual software, you have no ownership and hold no rights towards it.
@RoomWithaMoose exactly, they did the calculations and worked out this would placate the majority of Californians...
EU implements laws that actually protect consumers. But very slowly.
California is a dying state commercially.
I always thought I was buying a licence, whether I purchased digitally or physically 🤷♂️
I'll tell you what would be great Sony on your store front is a 2 hour refund window.
@Illyrian The only thing we ever truly own is our bones and even that's up for debate.
What a BS, and waste of time and public resources.
When you buy a airplane ticket, or buy a concert entrance, you’re entitled for one use and you don’t own the musician or the airplane.
So what? Let’s change the term too?
I pay for a few Indy ganes as digital only , but a majority of my games are physical. Digital only I pass on . There is so much choice in games I don’t miss out.
3 years ago I thought I purchased a baseball bat, but I only rented a license to use it. Last week I received an email that the company will terminate that license at midnight December 31, 2024. At that time that bat will vaporize.
@Mr_B021 music and movies are totally different, there is absolutely zero chance they can revoke the use of my physical media movies or music. If I want to listen to Wu Tang: Enter the 36 Chambers I can put it on Spotify which I don't own or I walk over to my CD rack and pop the CD in my CD player and listen. In fact even if I don't have power it's hooked up to a UPS so I can listen for around 2 hours before it becomes unusable at which point I could get my CD Walkman and listen on that. It's this exact scenario that this article is talking about that made me start to get into retro consoles. I lost love with modern games with season passes, pay to win and other micro purchases for maps etc. £60 for a game is enough, then they want £30 for a map pack or whatever ever few months until the next game is out. People need to remember how good a decent story is like CoD modern warfare was years ago, Resident Evil PS1 era, Metal Gear Solid etc. online gaming is great, but I muh prefer a single player, offline story mode which would make this risk null and void
@Tr1ggsy agree, retro gaming rules. But music and movies are not that different. Even when you buy physical you only own the plastic disc and you buy a right of use / a licence to use its contents. You may do as you please with the disc: put it in a device, hang it on the wall or use it as a coaster for your drink. But, except for home use, you can’t do as you please with the contents of the disc (for example show it in public). The physical disc acts as a token, or prove that you bought the licence. In your physical media example, you are right that there is no realistic way your licence could be revoked. But if your house burns down and you lose your physical collection, you also lose your licences / access to the content. Media preservation is a tough challenge and historically the most reliable media to store content are still books, paintings and sheet music, not very useful when it comes to game preservation. Sorry for the long post, I appreciate the discussion.
@Mr_B021 that's true I guess, just much prefer physical games because if they wanted to they can and have removed access to digital only games. CDs and Blu Ray/DVD are just like physical games, digital games I'd say are more like Spotify and Netflix due to the fact you can't sell them on or whatever if you decide to stop playing.
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