What do you get when you buy a digital game? Let’s think of a steam game, whatever. Unlike the physics game of yesterday, which you inserted from a disc into the console and played, in Steam we have nothing tangible, we have nothing of our own. We see a game, we pay for it, we get it and we play it. But is it our game? Not more. But the permission to approach is not the same.
So Valve has started to cover its back in the face of a new law that will take effect in California next year. Let’s go to the parties.
origin. Last September a law was passed in California: AB 2426. The origin of this law was the elimination of certain payment content from users’ libraries, that is, Ubisoft eliminated and restricted access to The Crew and that Sony did the same with some Discovery. content (before the back is down).
What effect does it have? Those stores will not be able to use words like “buy” and “buy” (both translate to “buy” or “shopping”) unless they make it clear to users that they are not actually buying the product, but acquiring it. permission to go And that permission can be revoked.
You are not buying a game, you are buying a license to access the game itself. If tomorrow the publisher decides to withdraw the game from the market, the user will lose access to it. This is not new. Historically it has always been like this (except for these we will return to later), but using this law will be informed.
This is what I noticed on Steam when buying the game it looks like Image: Xataka
Steam moves the tab. From now on, Steam will show a notification that can be seen above these lines. This information indicates the “purchase of a digital product license on Steam”. If you access to steam signing contract (which we all accept when using the platform) we will see that it is clearly stated that “the license does not give you ownership or ownership of the content and services.” That is, it is not just a price for everyone.
The same note can be found in other stores, such as Epic Games Store, and the ubisoft store, EA App or Battle.net. We could continue this with almost all the forces of the digital media of the game, but there are those who have not been slow to use the matter to their advantage. That store is GOG, Good Old Games, owners of CD Projekt Red.
Your installer is yours. The law that concerns us today does not apply in those cases in which the store offers an offline installer that cannot be removed by the user. GOG does just that. When you buy a game on GOG, you get an offline installer that you can use as often as you want, for things that happen to a GOG game. If you have the tool, you have the game.
This is not the first time GOG has boasted of this and in fact it has happened several times clarify your words. And GOG sells licenses beyond its budget. So when the California law was passed, GOG had to explain that “when we say we release your games”, we mean that no matter what happens – whether it’s licensing issues, store closures, or even a zombie apocalypse – you can continue to play thanks to our developers.
Image | Xataka
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