Steam is now admitting what was true all along: You don’t own any of those games.
Valve’s PC gaming digital marketplace has started including a notice on the shopping cart screen letting users know that purchasing a game on Steam grants them a license for it, per Engadget. That’s a fairly benign message without any context, and you’d be forgiven for barely noticing it. After all, of course I have a license for the thing I bought, right?
Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. Thanks to a new California state law signed by governor Gavin Newsom in September, digital storefronts that operate in the state have to add that disclosure before they’re allowed to use words like “buy” or “purchase.” It’s a small thing, but important to note as we move further and further into an era where most people collect things digitally, not physically.
In other words, there will always remain a possibility that someday the licenses you paid for won’t be worth anything. Steam might shut down eventually, in the distant future, and the games won’t work anymore. The purpose of this law and Valve’s new disclosure is to make sure you know that, even if there’s not much you can do about it.
