Facing lawsuit, Sony argues it’s already obvious that digital games aren’t owned by consumers
Sony says its current disclosures around digital purchases on PlayStation are clear enough that “reasonable consumers would not be misled” into thinking they actually own the digital games they pay to play.
Sony made the argument on August 21 in a filing in California’s Northern District Court as it made its first substantive reply to a proposed class action lawsuit brought against PlayStation two months ago.
In June, a group of gamers (and their lawyers) had asserted that Sony’s disclosures in its digital store were insufficient to comply with a 2025 California law requiring companies to make clear to consumers that paying for a downloadable game doesn’t grant the player the permanent access one would associate with ownership. The law calls for a “clear and conspicuous” warning that “states in plain language that ‘buying’ or ‘purchasing’ the digital good is a license.”
When a person pays for a digital game on PlayStation, the item’s listing in Sony’s digital shopping cart includes some fine print. That text indicates that the purchase is subject to Sony’s PlayStation Terms of Service and Software Product Licensing Agreement (SPLA). Both are linked for the consumer to read more before paying.
Here’s what that looks like in a purchase I made today:
The gamers said in their June suit that Sony’s disclosures have failed to meet California’s standards.
In its August 21 filing, Sony says they are. It notes that the linked documents state that “you can use a product in the ways described in the license, but do not own the product” and ”[t]he Software is licensed to you, not sold.” (For context, which you can see for yourself by clicking the above links: Both lines appear hundreds of words into digital documents that are thousands of words long).
Beyond that, Sony argues that anyone who pays for a digital game inherently understands that they can’t own it because, if they did, no one else could have a copy. This concept appears to draw a distinction between a digital copy of a game and a physical object that only one person can have at a time. Here’s how Sony’s lawyers make that case: