Sony says gamers don't own their digital purchases, but 44 examples of its own wording suggest otherwise

[midian182]

A hot potato: Sony has argued in its ownership lawsuit that people don't actually own their digital purchases. But that seems to contradict the 44 instances documented by the Consumer Rights Wiki, all of which show the gaming giant clearly stating that people do in fact "own" their games.

The collection spans PlayStation support pages, store listings, and official blog posts, with live links, archived snapshots, and highlighted screenshots showing exactly where Sony uses ownership language.

The project comes from the community around the Consumer Rights Wiki, founded by consumer advocate Louis Rossmann. Its collection covers support articles, promotional pages, store listings, and official blog posts, all showing that language suggesting ownership extends well beyond the checkout button.

One particularly clear example appears in Sony's instructions for upgrading PS4 games to their PS5 versions. The page explicitly refers to an eligible "digital PS4 game you already own." That leaves little room to suggest the wording applies exclusively to physical discs.

There's also Sony's explanation of its PlayStation Store ratings system. In an August 2025 blog post, the company said players "must own the game before submitting a rating." It appears that ownership is a perfectly useful concept when explaining who gets to leave feedback.

The lawsuit was filed in June by four California customers who allege Sony's checkout does not adequately disclose that their purchases grant revocable licenses. They say the licensing notice is small and insufficiently prominent, while buttons such as "Buy Now" and "Confirm Purchase" suggest ownership.

California's AB 2426, which took effect in January 2025, restricts that language unless sellers obtain the required acknowledgment or provide a clear, conspicuous licensing disclosure. The dispute concerns what customers are told when paying for games, rather than whether buying a copy transfers the publisher's intellectual property.

Sony argues its licensing terms make the arrangement clear and that "reasonable consumers would not be misled." But the wiki's examples certainly illustrate why people would think they do own these items.

Other storefronts have been more explicit about ownership. Steam added a shopping-cart notice in October 2024 explaining that digital purchases grant licenses. Ubisoft used a similar ownership defense after The Crew's shutdown left paying customers unable to play.

For now, Sony is seeking individual arbitration, citing terms it says all four plaintiffs accepted without opting out. It has alternatively requested dismissal, with a hearing scheduled for October 1. Whether the wiki's collection influences proceedings remains to be seen, but it certainly adds to the growing PR nightmare Sony has become embroiled in.

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Sony says gamers don't own their digital purchases, but 44 examples of its own wording suggest otherwise

 

[yRaz]

Unless you're in one of several countries where you do like in all places, China and Brazil. Not exactly small markets....

While the US will likely be the last holdold, the idea that you own your digital purchases is a thing in China and Brazil(those damn commies!) are already on board with digital ownership and transferable licenses and the idea is spreading in the EU with South America.

This probably could have gone on forever the way it was if Sony didn't get up on their soap box and start screaming about how we own nothing and it remained a minor annoyance that consumers tolerated. They really just put the gas on "these consumers just need to shut and start liking the fact they don't own games". Pair that with LG recently saying they own the glass in your TV and have a right to know what it's doing and we're going to have a lot of interesting stories to follow the next few months.

 

[hahahanoobs]

A company lied to their customers.
Shocker.

 

[dangh]

At least steam is clear, you by default do not buy games there, just getting a revocable license

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

I checked Sony's TOS and it specifically maps the terms being quoted to not being sellable. It seems pretty clear to me: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service/#content-license-and-restrictions

Use of the terms "own," "ownership", "purchase," "sale," "sold," "sell," "rent" or "buy" in this Agreement or in connection with the Content does not mean or imply any transfer of ownership of any content, data or software or any intellectual property rights from SIE, its affiliates, or its licensors to any user or third party.

For digital products, this is the norm anyways unless there is a digital interface to also sell items you're buying. As a customer, I never expect to be able to sell or trade digitally purchased content. That's not how it works on any app store, in any game (unless there is a trade interface), subscriptions, and much more. I don't know of any example; do you?

If you want resellable physical games, then just don't purchase a Playstation. If competitors find there's a benefit from offering physical game purchases, they will keep them. But I don't expect trying to gaslight the legal system into believing Sony's digital purchases should've always been resellable by law is going to work. That would create a huge liability to any company operating within that jurisdiction and would be disastrous.

 

[Nobina]

Sony or any other company shouldn't have a say in this at all. They haven't invented digital products. If there isn't, there should be a law which says that whatever you buy digitally, you own, as that only makes sense.

 

[NumberNine]

Computers are somehow both my greatest source of joy and the epitome of material foolishness. This is why I accept that I'm both skilled and stupid.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Unless you're in one of several countries where you do like in all places, China and Brazil. Not exactly small markets....

While the US will likely be the last holdold, the idea that you own your digital purchases is a thing in China and Brazil(those damn commies!) are already on board with digital ownership and transferable licenses and the idea is spreading in the EU with South America.

This probably could have gone on forever the way it was if Sony didn't get up on their soap box and start screaming about how we own nothing and it remained a minor annoyance that consumers tolerated. They really just put the gas on "these consumers just need to shut and start liking the fact they don't own games". Pair that with LG recently saying they own the glass in your TV and have a right to know what it's doing and we're going to have a lot of interesting stories to follow the next few months.

Citation needed for actual digital resales.

Speaking of China, property rights are just like digital rights because the government owns all property in the country. So you end up with this curious case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prope...s_and_procedures_to_expropriate_real_property
- Buying property?
- Buying a license to use a property for 30-70 years?
- Removing the license from your ownership?

Sony or any other company shouldn't have a say in this at all. They haven't invented digital products. If there isn't, there should be a law which says that whatever you buy digitally, you own, as that only makes sense.

If a jurisdiction passes a law, then companies doing business there would have to comply if they want to keep doing business there. That said, retroactive laws are extremely limited in the US so this would probably only apply to newly sold digital products.

 

[GABulldog]

The WEF said it best, you will own nothing and be happy.