When Sony announced in July of this year that they would completely stop releasing physical PlayStation game discs starting in 2028, it was predictable that this decision would immediately spark heated debate among the gaming community and industry. In a lawsuit they are facing as a result of this recently, Sony even told the court that “informed consumers” understand how digital games work.
In June of this year, four players decided to team up and file a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment, alleging that Sony’s PlayStation Store platform did not clearly inform consumers that what they were purchasing digitally was a “usage license” rather than the game itself, thereby violating California law.
According to the plaintiffs’ argument, because Sony used misleading terms such as “Buy Now” and “Confirm Purchase” on the PlayStation Store platform, many consumers believed they were buying a copy of a game, when in fact they were only purchasing a license to access the game, and Sony and game publishers have the right to revoke these permissions at any time.
Now, Sony has finally responded through a court document. While they emphasized that they did indeed inform consumers that “digital products are sold as licenses,” they also stated that even without explicit notification, “wise consumers” should have understood this from the outset.
Regarding the allegations, Sony emphasized that since digital games are not a “limited resource,” there are no quantity restrictions on purchases whatsoever, so no player can truly “own” a digital game, because if a player really owned the game, others would no longer be able to purchase the same game.
「正如原告所承認的，SPLA (軟體授權協議) 第一條同樣也說明了『本軟體僅授權予您使用，而非出售給您』。而這也是非常合理的說法。因為在數位時代，明智的消費者並不會認為自己獲得了數位遊戲的『所有權』。如果真是如此，那麼原告 Edward Heycock 就不可能在 2026 年 2 月 25 日，以 69.99 美元的價格從 PlayStation Store 取得《惡靈古堡：安魂曲》，因為原告 Jason Mendoza 已經在 2026 年 2 月 14 日取得了《惡靈古堡：安魂曲》；屆時遊戲應該是由 Mendoza 先生所有，而不是索尼。」索尼寫道
As expected, Sony’s official response left many players dumbfounded, as they felt Sony still missed the point—because what players want from digital games has never been outright “ownership” of the game itself, but rather the ability to own a “copy” of the game just like with physical discs when purchasing digital versions.
Not only that, Sony also sent an announcement directly to all PlayStation players via email last week, stating that when players registered their PlayStation console accounts, they had already agreed to the fact that “what you receive with digital games is a license to use.” What’s certain is that this digitalization controversy will continue to escalate in the days ahead.
Source: KOCPC Chinese