New California Law Forces Digital Stores To Admit You’re Licensing Games, Not Buying Them

A new California law will force digital stores to admit users are simply licensing games, and not actually buying them. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the new law (AB 2426), which will come into effect next year.

GOG, formerly known as Good Old Games, took a potshot at Ubisoft at the beginning of this year, remarking, “You should feel extremely comfortable with owning your games on GOG (they’re DRM-free).” The remark by GOG on its X social media account was made after Ubisoft director Philippe Tremblay made a statement saying players should start “feeling comfortable with not owning your game.” The conversation raised the question of whether or not players actually did own the games they purchased via digital stores. Now, a new California law is going to make digital store fronts be completely honest about the situation, and it probably won’t be in the player’s favor.

The official phrasing of the law reads, “This bill would, subject to specified exceptions, additionally prohibit a seller of a digital good from advertising or offering for sale a digital good, as defined, to a purchaser with the terms buy, purchase, or any other term which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser, or the seller provides to the consumer before executing each transaction a clear and conspicuous statement, as specified.”

In GOG’s defense, it once again has made a comment about whether players own the digital content they purchase on its website. In the statement made today on X, GOG remarked, “When we said we let you ‘own’ your games, we meant that no matter what happens—whether it’s licensing issues, storefronts shutting down, or even a zombie apocalypse cutting off your internet—you’ll still be able to play them thanks to our offline installers.”

While GOG has made it abundantly clear to gamers where it stands when purchasing off its storefront, others have yet to follow suit. According to the new law, storefronts can explain that someone is buying a license and that the purchase isn’t a permanent transaction, meaning the license could be revoked at any time. It is up to each individual storefront to decide for itself.

The fact that it is only California that has passed this law, could introduce additional confusion into the market. Becuase this is a California-only law, it won’t necessarily be enacted and enforced in other states, or other parts of the world. This could lead to storefronts not being consistent across the board, and causing even more confusion for players.

Hopefully, however, other states and regions will follow California’s lead on this and enact similar laws forcing digital storefronts to be clear about ownership of content. At the very least, it seems like a good start.