The editor’s point of view: Steam became one of the first companies to admit that you don’t own the games you buy. His warning comes as new regulations come into force. We’ve known for a long time that digital game purchases are nothing more than long-term rentals, and there’s little we can do to stop that. However, greater transparency around this arrangement is nevertheless welcome.

Steam began displaying a new notice in its cart, explicitly clarifying the transaction: “Purchase of a digital product licenses the product on Steam.” The change is Valve’s way of complying with a new California law prohibiting digital marketplaces from implying that customers own the games, movies, e-books and other digital content they purchase.

The new regulations were signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom last year, aiming to crack down on deceptive marketing practices around the sale of digital media. Under AB 2426, it will be illegal for businesses to use terms like “purchase,” “purchase,” or other terminology suggesting full ownership when selling digital goods that are merely permitted for use .

Instead, the law requires digital storefronts to indicate in “plain language” that customers are simply acquiring a license to access the content – ​​a license that could potentially expire or that the storefront can revoke at any time. Businesses that break the rules could face fines for false advertising. The law does of course not apply to permanent offline downloads or physical media. Engadget noted that the labeling “appears to be relatively new” and is not exclusive to California Steam accounts.

The issue of limited digital ownership has become a hot topic in recent years, as more and more gamers find themselves having the rug pulled out from under them when game servers shut down or store windows are boarded up. This has even led to the emergence of movements like “Stop Killing Games”.

A high-profile example is Ubisoft abruptly delisting and removing access to the original The Crew game from popular libraries after its servers went permanently offline earlier this year. Even those who paid full price couldn’t continue playing the open-world racing game. While Ubisoft has since added offline modes to sequels like The Crew 2 to avoid a similar debacle, the original game highlighted how little control customers have over their digital purchases. If the company decides to pull the plug, poof – your game is over.