Sony and the Ownership of Digital Games

On 18 June, four PlayStation users, Andrew Garcia, Edward Heycock, Jason Mendoza and Josh Salinas, filed a proposed class action against Sony Interactive Entertainment in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. They argue that Sony misled customers into thinking they were buying digital games when they were only getting a revocable licence to play them.

The claim is based on AB 2426, a California law that took effect on 1 January 2025 and added section 17500.6 to the state's Business and Professions Code. The law does not ban digital licences. Instead, it stops sellers from using words like "buy" or "purchase" for a revocable digital good unless they either get the customer to actively acknowledge that they are receiving a licence or show a clear, separate statement in plain language saying so. The plaintiffs argue that the PlayStation Store's "Buy Now" and "Confirm Purchase" buttons suggest ownership, and that the short licence notice above the purchase button is in small, unhighlighted text that does not meet either route. Sony's terms say the software is licensed, not sold, and give users only a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and personal right to play.

Sony filed its response on 21 August, arguing that its checkout already complies because it links to its terms of service and licence agreement, and that reasonable consumers would not be misled. Its filing argued that ownership of a digital game is not plausible, pointing out that if Mendoza had owned Resident Evil Requiem after buying it, Heycock could not have bought the same game eleven days later. Critics said this confuses owning a copy with owning the game itself. More importantly, Sony also filed a motion to compel arbitration. If it succeeds, the claim would have to go through private arbitration on an individual basis under the PlayStation terms, which could stop it proceeding as a class action at all.

The case comes at a sensitive time for Sony. Less than two weeks after the claim was filed, it announced that physical disc production for new games will end from January 2028, and in August it emailed users reminding them that digital purchases are licensed and can be lost if an account is closed or banned.

The arbitration motion may decide the case before the ownership question does. If it succeeds, the wording on the checkout button may never be tested in court.