Steam has confirmed this (for users who didn’t know). They do not own what they buy on their platform. You pay for a license to use it, but you don’t own it. And believe it or not, it can make a big difference in certain cases.

Steam has started showing a notification in your shopping cart. When you open it with the items inside and before making a payment, it appears in the bottom right and literally says: “Purchasing a Digital Product Licenses the Product on Steam”. FROM engagewho are the first to speak of it, say they saw it for the first time. And we certainly do too.

Steam and its license terms

Although the notice is new, it was inserted very recently and secretly, Its consequences are nothing new. What is certain is that even if you pay a fortune for games, you don’t own them, but they allow you to play them.

The inclusion of this notice now appears to be aimed at legal ‘uncovering’ the new legislation that is coming into force against misleading advertising and which should be. the exact distinction between a product or a license. For example, the governor of California has published a rule requiring digital marketplaces to make it clear to customers that they are purchasing a license only to access these services.

The rule will not apply to persistent offline downloads, but will apply to digital copies of video games, music, movies, TV shows or e-books from an online store. Companies that fail to comply can face false advertising fines if they don’t clearly explain the limitations of a particular digital purchase.

This type of legislation is necessary as an elimination Crew from Ubisoft from player libraries after shutting down game servers. And it can make a big difference when buying software. A license is simply an authorization to access the content provided by the service. However, if the content is not available, the responsible company may say that you did not have the right to permanent access.

And the situation does not only concern Steam. It is of all online stores that sell digital products. Or more accurately, a license in most cases.