Sony has updated its terms of use policy for the PlayStation platform over the past few days, and one key element of that terms of use policy that has stuck out with players is that Sony is flat out telling gamers that they have no ownership of the digital games they purchase. Instead, what players are getting is a license to play that game.
Sony is making these changes to the policy and highlighting the digital games license i the wake of its announcement earlier this year about stopping disc production. Back in July, Sony confirmed that in 2028 it would no longer be releasing physical versions of PlayStation games. Instead of having the option to choose a disc copy of new titles, PlayStation players will only be able to buy digital games from the PlayStation store directly on the console.
Digital games ownership on PlayStation has never been a thing
Sony’s choice to highlight this license for digital games that people paid for is proving to be controversial for fans and gamers. However, digital games purchased on a PlayStation console have always been a licensed piece of software and not owned by gamers who paid for it. This has been true since the days of the PS3 when the PlayStation Store and PlayStation Network first appeared on consoles. Sony has stuck with this part of the policy the entire time.
The issue as pointed out by Notebookcheck, is that gamers could potentially lose their copy of a game that was paid for for any number of reasons, and that the timing of this choice to highlight the lack of ownership is in poor taste given the backlash Sony has been receiving for its announcement about dropping discs in 2028. As for the specific license terms, Sony states that digital games are granted to the player as a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play the software for private commercial use.
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