New law forces stores to admit that you do not own digital games

AB 2426, a newly passed piece of legislation in California that was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week, will force companies that sell digital goods (like games) in the state to warn consumers against doing so. Actually owner of that contentbut instead license it and could lose access to it in the future.

Buying a video game digitally doesn’t mean you’ll own it forever. You can usually download it and play it again years later. But that’s no guarantee, as you often don’t buy access to the game, but instead pay for a license to use it and agree that the company behind it may one day remove it from the store, shut down the servers and can make it unplayable in the game. the future. We saw this play out recently at Ubisoft’s The crew, which closed last year with little warning. This led to a major campaign to fight back against the publisher and other companies that might try to do this. And now California is joining the fray.

California Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D), who was the bill’s sponsor, told Game file that the newly passed legislation was “motivated by consumers losing access to content.”

“The biggest story that brought this issue to my attention was Sony’s announcement late last year that digital copies of purchased content from Discovery would be withdrawn,” Irwin said. Game file.

December 2023Due to an expiring licensing agreement between Sony and WB, a lot of Discovery TV shows would be removed from the PSN store. Even if you bought the shows, for example Mythbustersyou would no longer be able to view them after December 31st. People weren’t happy about this and in the end, Sony and WB reached an agreement at the last minute to avoid this situation, but it was a very public reminder that you don’t actually own your digital content. At any time, a company can take it down, choose not to re-sign a contract or whatever, and just like that, all the content you “owned” is gone. And while the new bill won’t prevent this, it will force companies to be clearer about the situation.

What the new California law means for publishers

AB2426 makes it illegal for any company that sells digital goods in California to use terms like “buy” or “purchase” without including a warning that the content you “purchase” may disappear or become unusable in the future. Starting in January, companies selling digital games in California will have to “declare in plain language” that they are purchasing a limited license and not the actual item.

“Ubisoft’s actions with The crew further underscoring how widespread this problem is,” Irwin said.

If a company violates the law, it could be fined $2,500 for each illegal listing and could also be found violating state unfair competition law.

There will be some exceptions, including games that can be downloaded for free or games that include an offline mode that allows the game to be run without a constant connection to the internet.

Irwin said Game file that she hopes the new law will help motivate companies to enter into longer licensing agreements, take out subscriptions and think more about the future. Perhaps Ubisoft and other companies, wanting to avoid running afoul of this new California law, will work to include actual offline modes in games like The Crew: Motorfest at launch rather than adding them later due to online pressure.

The plan here is to help consumers avoid paying a “premium for counterfeit ownership,” Irwin says. And while California may be just one state, it is the most populous state in the United States. Millions of gamers live in California, and companies around the world won’t want to stop selling games in the state next year. So hopefully this new law will help everyone by forcing companies to include offline modes or give clear warnings about what you are Actually buy when you buy a digital game.

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