Valve has changed its Steam checkout page to reflect the new law in California that forces digital platforms to disclose whether or not users are purchasing a game or just the license to play the game. When you check out of Steam with games in your cart, the platform now shows off a new banner that says “A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam”.
Users in regions outside of LA have also spotted the change. This could be to safeguard the platform from any legal loopholes regarding digital content. The banner hasn’t appeared on the Steam app yet.
In case you missed it, a new law in California is going into effect next year that will require all digital stores to disclose “license purchasing” over “owning the product”. This will cover all digital media including music, movies and games. It will also cover all platforms including the PlayStation Store, Steam, Xbox Marketplace and various movie purchasing sites.
The law is being introduced following the recent removal of digital licenses from PlayStation and Ubisoft. PlayStation is known for delisting games from the PlayStation Store even if you “own” the product. Concord was one game that vanished from the store following its abysmal failure. However, Sony has also been under the spotlight following the removal of old Discovery shows when Warner Bros. and Discovery merged.
The new does not cover offline installer games. For example, GoG has an option to download your game files and keep them. You’ll be able to install the game over and over again without needing to connect to the internet. In this case, you “own” the game. Steam, however, does not allow for these installer options. Console platforms don’t either.
The law is also forcing all platforms to change the terms of purchase. In future, stores won’t be able to say “buy” or “purchase” unless they openly disclose the fact it is a license.
Source: Reddit
