New US Legislation Ensures Clarity for Game Ownership on Nintendo and PlayStation

A new law in the United States is requiring publishers like Ubisoft, PlayStation, Nintendo, and others to clarify whether players will truly own a game after purchasing it from a digital storefront.

Over the past year, many gamers and anime enthusiasts have faced the harsh reality regarding digital ownership of their beloved games and series, discovering how easily their access can be revoked by digital storefronts.

For instance, when Crunchyroll merged with Funimation, existing Funimation users lost access to their digital collections. In April 2024, Ubisoft rendered The Crew unplayable by shutting down its servers and removing the game from player libraries.

Additionally, companies like PlayStation and Nintendo have removed titles from player libraries due to the closure of storefronts, such as the Wii U and 3DS eShops, or due to content licensing issues.

To address these issues, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law requiring all digital storefronts, including those for gaming and streaming services, to clearly state whether a buyer will have actual ownership of a game post-purchase.

The Crew promotional art from Ubisoft — Ubisoft

When Ubisoft shut down The Crew, players lost access to the game in their libraries.

This legislation aims to “prohibit a seller of a digital good from advertising or offering for sale a digital good… which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good.”

In simpler terms, it compels digital storefronts, such as Nintendo, PlayStation, and Steam, to inform consumers if they are genuinely purchasing the game or merely entering into a “time-limited rental” agreement.

This regulation effectively assists consumers in understanding the potential risks of purchasing a game from a digital storefront, considering the likelihood of it being deleted in the future based on past occurrences.

To keep buyers informed, storefronts are now legally mandated to provide a warning whenever customers purchase a product that could be removed from their libraries.

However, this rule does not apply to storefronts that allow buyers to permanently download content to an external storage device without the need for an internet connection.

When the Nintendo eShop was shut down, players lost access to their purchased games.

Of course, this law leaves live service games in a gray area. Although these games can be downloaded and played, they are still dependent on publishers’ servers, which can be taken offline at any moment, making them unplayable.

Though this law is currently applicable only in California, it is possible that similar legislation could extend to other states and countries. For example, when the EU mandated that all electronic devices utilize USB-C, manufacturers adapted uniformly.

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