Sony stated in court that "reasonable" PlayStation buyers already understand: they don't own digital games

By this logic, all those dissatisfied with the company's plans to abandon discs are unreasonable.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is attempting to dismiss a class-action lawsuit in California related to the wording used when purchasing digital games on the PlayStation Store. The company claims that "reasonable consumers" already understand that purchasing a digital game does not mean acquiring ownership of it. This was stated in a court document from August 21, which was brought to attention by journalist Stephen Totilo from Game File.

The lawsuit was filed on June 18 by four PlayStation users in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs accuse Sony of not clearly informing buyers about the licensed nature of digital games. In their opinion, terms like "Buy Now" and "Confirm Purchase" create the impression that the user is actually purchasing the game as property, while in fact, they are only receiving a license to use it.

The case is based on law AB 2426, which comes into effect on January 1, 2025. It regulates the sale of digital goods and requires sellers to clearly inform buyers that they are receiving a license, not ownership.

The law provides two options: the seller can obtain separate confirmation from the buyer that a license is being acquired, or display a clear and prominent notice in plain language before payment. The wording must be separate from other terms and conditions and should not be hidden among lengthy legal text.

The PlayStation checkout page currently contains the following information: after clicking Confirm Purchase, the user agrees to the PlayStation terms and acknowledges that the purchase of a digital product is a license governed by the Software Product License Agreement (SPLA). The plaintiffs believe that such text is not sufficiently prominent and does not comply with the law's requirements.

In its initial response to the lawsuit, Sony stated that the company's existing documents comply with legal requirements. Specifically, the PlayStation Terms of Service and Software Product License Agreement state that the user may use the product within the scope of the granted license but does not own the product itself, and that software is licensed, not sold.

However, as Game File notes, the relevant provisions are hundreds of words from the beginning of documents that are thousands of words long.

But Sony's lawyers went further. The company argues that for a "reasonable consumer," the very concept of owning a digital copy does not seem plausible. As an argument, Sony cites the example of the game Resident Evil Requiem: if purchasing a digital copy truly transferred ownership of it, a second person could not purchase the same game after the first buyer.