Ideas about digital game ownership are definitely changing now that Steam has made it clear that the games you pay for are really just a license to play them.
Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that means digital stores must make it clear when you buy something digitally, whether it’s a movie, game, album, e-book, etc. , you only own one license (assuming you did not purchase a DRM-free digital item). The reason for this law is to ensure that “false and deceptive advertising by digital media sellers who falsely tell consumers that they own the items they purchase becomes a thing of the past.”
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What this means for all gamers out there is a small caveat for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo: when you buy a game on their store, you’re just buying a license to play that game. Now, Steam has put this into practice before the legislation comes into effect next year. If you go into Steam and add a game to your cart, you will see a message that says “Purchasing a digital product grants a license to that product on Steam.” I doubt it will stop that many people from using Steam, sunk cost fallacy and all, but at least it might get more users thinking about digital ownership more broadly.
PC gaming storefront GOG had a somewhat cheeky reaction to Steam’s changes, writing on Twitter: “Since checkout banners are so popular, we’re considering putting one up ourselves. Any thoughts on this?” accompanying the site Screenshot of a shopping cart with a message that reads “Purchasing digital products on GOG will grant you an offline installer that cannot be taken away from you.” In some cases, all games on GOG It’s all DRM-free, which means it doesn’t have any checks to make sure you have the license to play it – it just installs on your computer and is there for as long as you want it, with no restrictions on it being able to be played away from you. Way to take away.
In addition to sites like GOG offering DRM-free games, you’ll see more news like this on Steam next year. It might be nice if there could be some legislation to allow more storefronts to post stuff that’s not protected by DRM, but I guess that’s just a small step.
