Sony’s Digital Game Ownership Argument Is Another Attack On Consumer Rights
Overview & Key Takeaways
As Sony marches towards its all-digital future, the company is now arguing in a class-action lawsuit that it doesn't mislead customers into purchasing digital licenses for games, instead of actual ownership of the product.
In a filing in California's Northern District Court made last month (and spotted by Game File), Sony claims that "reasonable consumers would not be misled" when shopping on its storefront. The court overseeing the case against Sony is currently evaluating whether it should proceed to arbitration, as plaintiffs argue that Sony doesn't properly disclose the nature of digital purchases on its platforms.
California law requires a warning label that clearly communicates to consumers of digital goods that the products they're purchasing are, in fact, digital licenses. For PlayStation games, Sony says that its terms and services disclaimer--the wall of text that accompanies a sale--lays out the nature of a purchase. The disclaimer isn't found anywhere during the purchase process; instead, Sony leaves a paragraph of text above the "confirm purchase" button. Users then need to navigate through the terms of service menus and read through the text, which includes the following line in the PlayStation 5 System Software Licence Agreement:
Always read the fine print.
"If you are in North America, South America, or Central America, all games and other software made available for use with your PS5 system are licensed to you, not sold, pursuant to the Software Product License Agreement."
"In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining 'ownership' of a digital game," Sony's lawyers wrote in the company's defense (via Aftermath).
While Sony is correct that it does have disclaimers, this paints a worrying picture for the future of console games when there are no physical options available. Sony will stop producing game discs as of January 2028, and with its next-gen PlayStation console rumored to have no disc drive, the PlayStation Store will be the only game in town for accessing PS6 titles.
As Sony marches towards its all-digital future, the company is now arguing in a class-action lawsuit that it doesn't mislead customers into purchasing digital licenses for games, instead of actual ownership of the product.
In a filing in California's Northern District Court made last month (and spotted by Game File), Sony claims that "reasonable consumers would not be misled" when shopping on its storefront. The court overseeing the case against Sony is currently evaluating whether it should proceed to arbitration, as plaintiffs argue that Sony doesn't properly disclose the nature of digital purchases on its platforms.
California law requires a warning label that clearly communicates to consumers of digital goods that the products they're purchasing are, in fact, digital licenses. For PlayStation games, Sony says that its terms and services disclaimer--the wall of text that accompanies a sale--lays out the nature of a purchase. The disclaimer isn't found anywhere during the purchase process; instead, Sony leaves a paragraph of text above the "confirm purchase" button. Users then need to navigate through the terms of service menus and read through the text, which includes the following line in the PlayStation 5 System Software Licence Agreement:
Always read the fine print.
"If you are in North America, South America, or Central America, all games and other software made available for use with your PS5 system are licensed to you, not sold, pursuant to the Software Product License Agreement."
"In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining 'ownership' of a digital game," Sony's lawyers wrote in the company's defense (via Aftermath).
While Sony is correct that it does have disclaimers, this paints a worrying picture for the future of console games when there are no physical options available. Sony will stop producing game discs as of January 2028, and with its next-gen PlayStation console rumored to have no disc drive, the PlayStation Store will be the only game in town for accessing PS6 titles.
