You buy a console, buy a disc, play the game, and you don’t have to think about losing access to it unless the physical disc gets destroyed, all because you own what you have paid for, and the company does not have a say about it.
Fast forward to the present and one of the biggest gaming companies globally, Sony, is now facing a class action lawsuit that started in June 2026, in lieu of four plaintiffs stating that Sony employed deceptive practices with marketing digital goods as ‘purchases.’
This practice, the plaintiffs argued, violated California Law AB 2426, which states that the seller should have a warning label that ‘states in plain language that ‘buying’ or ‘purchasing’ the digital good is a license.’
In Sony’s defense, they argued that digital games ownership is ‘impossible,’ citing that they made it clear in their updated terms of services and end user license agreement that the games/software are ‘licensed, not sold.’
‘A reasonable user would have seen the terms of service above or directly below the action button, [with] the user unambiguously manifest[ing] assent to the terms of service, including the arbitration provision, and the terms and arbitration provision were valid and binding,’ their motion to dismiss said.
They asserted that users have to ‘agree’ to the SPLA (Services Provider License Agreement) before buying a PlayStation game, more specifically the updated PlayStation Terms in April 2026 that states in its section 1 that ‘the Software is licensed to you, not sold’ which comes out during the checkout phase.
‘By selecting [the Confirm Purchase], you agree to complete the purchase in accordance with the PlayStation Terms of Service before using this content,’ Sony wrote in their motion.
‘You further acknowledge that your purchase of this digital product amounts to a license subject to the Software Product License Agreement.’