{"id":2122888,"date":"2026-09-01T17:39:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2122888"},"modified":"2026-09-01T17:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:39:58","slug":"playstation-argues-reasonable-consumers-already-know-they-dont-actually-own-their-digital-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2122888","title":{"rendered":"PlayStation argues &#8220;reasonable consumers&#8221; already know they don&#8217;t actually own their digital games"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/resident-evil-9-revenant-shadows\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Resident Evil Requiem<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">PlayStation argues &#8220;reasonable consumers&#8221; already know they don&#8217;t actually own their digital games<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;This makes sense.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/resident-evil-requiem-header-3.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Resident Evil Requiem screenshot showing a close-up of protagonist Grace Ashcroft.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"resident-evil-requiem-header-3.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer\/Capcom<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Kaan Serin avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1633424287.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"216\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Kaan Serin avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1633424287.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"216\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/kaan-serin\">Kaan Serin<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\n<p>Published on   <time datetime=\"2026-09-01T17:39:58+00:00\" data-auto-time-zone=\"true\" data-year=\"numeric\" data-month=\"short\" data-day=\"numeric\" data-hour=\"numeric\" data-minute=\"numeric\">Sept. 1, 2026, 5:39 p.m.<\/time>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"50f32f00-4134-42c6-8d2a-21e4b9383601\" data-name=\"Resident Evil Requiem\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Resident Evil Requiem\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Resident Evil Requiem\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Resident Evil Requiem\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Resident Evil Requiem\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Resident Evil Requiem\" title=\"Follow Resident Evil Requiem\"><br \/>\n  Follow Resident Evil Requiem<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>As PlayStation&#8217;s plan to scrap the production of game discs inches closer, Sony&#8217;s lawyers are arguing that &#8220;reasonable consumers&#8221; already know that they don&#8217;t own digital games.<\/p>\n<p>This comes in the middle of a class action lawsuit filed against Sony by four customers, who stated <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cand.472492\/gov.uscourts.cand.472492.1.0.pdf?ref=aftermath.site\">back in July<\/a> that the PlayStation Store&#8217;s disclosures don&#8217;t do enough to comply with a certain 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2426&amp;ref=aftermath.site\">California law<\/a> around digital ownership. Companies are required to let customers know loud and clear that they&#8217;re not owed access to a digital product forever, even if they&#8217;ve already paid for it, and the claimants feel Sony&#8217;s not being obvious enough about how digital purchases don&#8217;t mean digital ownership.<\/p>\n<p>For context, the PlayStation Store does link to both the company&#8217;s Terms Of Service and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.playstation.com\/en-us\/legal\/software-eula\/\">Software Product Licensing Agreement<\/a> when you go to buy a digital game on the storefront. The part that states that &#8220;virtual content is licensed, not owned&#8221; comes several hundred words into the documents, however.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamefile.news\/p\/facing-lawsuit-sony-argues-its-already\">The Game File<\/a>, Sony&#8217;s legal team fired back in a filing from August 21. Sony said most &#8220;reasonable consumers would not be misled&#8221; by the company&#8217;s disclosures.<\/p>\n<p>The console maker goes one step further in its argument, alleging that anyone who partakes in digital purchases knows they don&#8217;t truly own whatever it is they&#8217;re paying for, because how could more than one person own Resident Evil Requiem otherwise?.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This makes sense. In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining &#8216;ownership&#8217; of a digital game. 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 14th February, 2026, because Mr. Mendoza, not Sony, would have owned it then,&#8221; the filing stated.<\/p>\n<p>PlayStation&#8217;s found itself in similarly controversial waters for months now. Earlier this summer, the publisher announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-ending-playstation-discs-physical-media-january-2028\">plans to stop manufacturing discs for new PlayStation games by January, 2028<\/a>. The news went over about as well as you can imagine.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>As PlayStation&#8217;s plan to scrap the production of game discs inches closer, Sony&#8217;s lawyers are arguing that &#8220;reasonable consumers&#8221; already know that they don&#8217;t own digital games.<\/p>\n<p>This comes in the middle of a class action lawsuit filed against Sony by four customers, who stated <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cand.472492\/gov.uscourts.cand.472492.1.0.pdf?ref=aftermath.site\">back in July<\/a> that the PlayStation Store&#8217;s disclosures don&#8217;t do enough to comply with a certain 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2426&amp;ref=aftermath.site\">California law<\/a> around digital ownership. Companies are required to let customers know loud and clear that they&#8217;re not owed access to a digital product forever, even if they&#8217;ve already paid for it, and the claimants feel Sony&#8217;s not being obvious enough about how digital purchases don&#8217;t mean digital ownership.<\/p>\n<p>For context, the PlayStation Store does link to both the company&#8217;s Terms Of Service and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.playstation.com\/en-us\/legal\/software-eula\/\">Software Product Licensing Agreement<\/a> when you go to buy a digital game on the storefront. The part that states that &#8220;virtual content is licensed, not owned&#8221; comes several hundred words into the documents, however.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamefile.news\/p\/facing-lawsuit-sony-argues-its-already\">The Game File<\/a>, Sony&#8217;s legal team fired back in a filing from August 21. Sony said most &#8220;reasonable consumers would not be misled&#8221; by the company&#8217;s disclosures.<\/p>\n<p>The console maker goes one step further in its argument, alleging that anyone who partakes in digital purchases knows they don&#8217;t truly own whatever it is they&#8217;re paying for, because how could more than one person own Resident Evil Requiem otherwise?.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This makes sense. In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining &#8216;ownership&#8217; of a digital game. 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 14th February, 2026, because Mr. Mendoza, not Sony, would have owned it then,&#8221; the filing stated.<\/p>\n<p>PlayStation&#8217;s found itself in similarly controversial waters for months now. Earlier this summer, the publisher announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-ending-playstation-discs-physical-media-january-2028\">plans to stop manufacturing discs for new PlayStation games by January, 2028<\/a>. The news went over about as well as you can imagine.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Resident Evil Requiem PlayStation argues &#8220;reasonable consumers&#8221; already know they don&#8217;t actually own their digital games &#8220;This makes sense.&#8221; Image credit: Eurogamer\/Capcom News by Kaan Serin Contributor Published on Sept. 1, 2026, 5:39 p.m. Follow Resident Evil Requiem As PlayStation&#8217;s plan to scrap the production of game discs inches closer, Sony&#8217;s lawyers are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2122888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2122888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2122888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2122888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2122888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}