Sony claims customers already know they don’t own their PlayStation games
As Sony gears up to end physical PlayStation games in 2028, the tech giant recently claimed that customers already know they do not own their digital games, saying “Buy Now” should be understood as licensing, not ownership.
To many, shelling out $70 to “license” a PlayStation game from Sony does not seem like a good deal. According to the company’s court filing on August 21 following a proposed class-action lawsuit, Sony’s lawyers believe the customer did not buy anything from the PS Store, which sparked concern among gamers due to the fact that other competitors might do the same now.
Sony says that “reasonable consumers would not be misled” by its digital storefront. The company’s terms of service and SPLA clearly state that its customers “do not own the product” and “it is not sold for you to own,” as reported by GamesRadar.
It adds, “This makes sense. In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining ‘ownership’ of a digital game.”
Sony claims customers already know they don’t own their games
The argument is that if the customer truly wants to own a digital version of a game, for example, GTA 6, only one copy could ever be sold. However, if we go back in time, buying physical games from your local game store meant owning that title forever.
The court filing says, “Were that the case, then Plaintiff Edward Heycock would not have been able to obtain the game Resident Evil Requiem on February 25, 2026 for $69.99 from the PlayStation Store after Plaintiff Jason Mendoza had obtained Resident Evil Requiem on February 14, 2026, because Mr. Mendoza, not Sony, would have owned it then.”
Reports state that the arguments in question were filed just before PlayStation sent out emails to their customers reminding them that they own nothing.
In response, statements like “You will own nothing and be happy” and “If buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t stealing” flooded social media.
Many others argued that Sony should get rid of the “Buy Now: option and replace it with “Rent Now” instead to give a clear message to its customers and not set misleading expectations.
