Sony finds itself in a rather unusual situation: amidst a lawsuit concerning digital purchases, enthusiasts have begun collecting examples from official PlayStation resources where the company itself uses phrases like "games you own" in reference to digital acquisitions.
The list is being compiled by Consumer Rights Wiki, which has dedicated a separate page to it. It already contains numerous examples from official Sony and PlayStation websites. These include phrases like "digital PS4 game you already own", "games you own", and other variations of using the word "own" in relation to purchased games.
And this isn't just about old promotional materials. For example, on the official PlayStation support page dedicated to upgrading a game from PS4 to PS5, Sony explicitly states: "To upgrade an eligible digital PS4 game you already own to the digital PS5 version" — meaning it offers to upgrade a "digital PS4 game you already own".
Similar phrasings can be found in other Sony materials. Consumer Rights Wiki provides examples from PlayStation pages that talk about "games you own", the ability to play content that the user "already has", and that through Share Play, one can enjoy the same game "regardless of who owns it". The database already contains dozens of such quotes and links to the corresponding Sony pages.
In June 2026, several PlayStation buyers from California filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment. They claim that making digital purchases in the PlayStation Store creates the impression for consumers that they are buying a game, when in fact they are receiving a limited license to use it. In particular, the plaintiffs draw attention to the "Buy Now" and "Confirm Purchase" buttons.
Sony, in turn, in August asked the court to refer the case to individual arbitration or dismiss the lawsuit. Among the company's arguments is the assertion that a reasonable consumer could not have believed they were acquiring ownership of a digital game, as PlayStation's terms of service explicitly state a license, not a sale of software. Sony's terms use the phrasing that the software is "licensed to you, not sold".
This is precisely where a potentially inconvenient contradiction arises for Sony. On the one hand, the company's legal documents emphasize the licensing nature of digital purchases. On the other hand, Sony itself has used the word "own" in relation to digital games for many years.