Recently, Sony upset players with its statement about discontinuing the release of game discs for PlayStation. After this, discussions about “owning” digital products began online.
Sony console owners became concerned — if they didn't have discs, theoretically, they could lose their games. They went to study the user agreement and were horrified: it turned out that Sony has the right to delete an inactive account with games. According to current rules, this is possible if the account has not been used for at least 36 months, i.e., three years.
Some players decided that this clause was added to the rules “recently” — a theory arose that this was part of the preparation for the announcement of the disc discontinuation. However, then more attentive gamers delved into the user agreement, studied old versions of the documents, and noticed that Sony had this right a very long time ago.
At least since 2009, Sony's documents have mentioned a rule for deleting/closing accounts. At that time, the period of inactivity was limited to 18 months, in 2016 it was extended to 24 months, and the current period of “36 months” was established back in 2019.
This rule is found in documents for Europe, India, the UK, Turkey, but it does not apply, for example, to the USA.
This case once again shows why it is important to read user agreements and documents with information about “terms of service”,