The battle has been going on for many years whether digital versions of games actually belong to us or not. California decided to clarify this, which forced Steam to clearly inform customers that what they are buying is only a license to use the game, which may expire.
Remember, you are only purchasing a license
Sales of games on physical media are falling more and more each year. This applies not only to PCs, but recently also to game consoles. For some of them, such as Nintendo products, the market for physical games is still quite large, but hardly anyone buys games for PC in traditional stores anymore. Services such as Steam, Epic Game Store or the Polish GOG make it much more convenient to buy the digital version. However, there are key differences to remember, as Steam has recently begun to remind us. When you go to the cart in the Valve store today, under the payment button you will find a clear message that you are only purchasing a license to use this product on Steam.
This wording, which has been included in Steam’s regulations for a long time, practically closes off the possibility of further resale of games, as well as passing them on “inheritance”, e.g. after our death. This is the result of the act recently signed by the governor of California in the USA, which prohibits the use of certain terms if the purchase does not concern a physical product that may remain in our possession forever. Steam, in line with these assumptions, informs its users that it only sells them licenses, and if they ever decide to close their accounts, they will unfortunately lose the right to use their games.
This is nothing new and everyone should be aware of it, but it is probably worth paying attention to. This is probably far from causing a renaissance in physical game sales, but it will probably prevent this market from completely disappearing. There is no shortage of people who willingly buy games at their premiere in a physical version, but they intend to play it, finish it and sell it while it is still worth something. In this way, you can significantly reduce the costs of purchasing games. Another option, of course, is to wait for the first discounts, but this is probably not an option for those who are eagerly waiting for the premiere of a new title. Let’s hope that we will have the choice of how to purchase games for a long time.
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Source: antyweb.pl
