Steam clarifies that, with the purchase of a digital product from its store, it offers a user license and not a video game

Oct. 11 (Portaltic/EP) –

Steam has begun to inform users that with the purchasing a digital product in your store they are acquiring “a license” to use a video gamebut not the title itself, so that players take it into account before obtaining a game and avoid possible misunderstandings.

The digital video games and cloud gaming are options that allow users buy titles through online game stores or subscription platformsand play them remotely using ‘hardware’ that connects to a company’s servers.

In this way, instead of using a physical disk and playing locally on the device, The title runs in the cloud and only requires an Internet connection for its operation. This is a format that is currently offered by relevant companies in the sector such as PlayStation, Xbox, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Epic Games, or Valve.

Although this game format offers different advantages, such as the ability to play anywhere and on any device, keeping the game updated, it also presents a great inconvenient, and it is that the Users depend on the conditions of each online service or platform to be able to use the titles purchased.

That is, in the event that the distribution platform or the developer ceases the service of a video game, the Players may lose support for said title and even the possibility of playing it again. This is because, with the purchase of the digital video game, users They agree to buy software that they do not really own and, therefore, at any time it may no longer be available for download or use.

In this framework, Steam has started informing users that, when purchasing a digital product in your store, They are really buying “a license” to access the video game services and not a game as such.

Specifically, the digital video game distribution platform owned by Valve has introduced a informative notification about this nuance on the shopping cart page. In this way, before continuing with the payment, under the purchase details, Steam indicates that “the Purchasing a digital product grants you a license to the product on Steam.”

The company has also detailed it in the guidelines of your Steam Subscriber Agreementwhere it indicates that, by accepting a purchase agreement, Valve grants users “a non-exclusive license and the right to use the contents and services for your personal use without commercial purposes.” It also specifies that the license does not grant “ownership or ownership of the contents and services“.

With all this, before users make the purchase of a title, Steam tries to clarify that, with a digital product of this type, users do not purchase the video game as such, but only They have the right to play it.

This is an issue that has caused problems with players before, for example with the case of Ubisoft and its decision to remove the title The Crew from its game libraries. This incident put on the table the ability of companies to prohibit access to their titles at any time, which caused some users to request the approval of digital consumer protection legislation.

Following this line, as has been collected Engadgetthis notification about the purchase of Steam video games has begun to be displayed after the approval last September of the AB 2426 law in the State of California (United States).

This lawwhich will come into force next year, advocates for consumer protection, as well as avoiding false advertising in digital products. In this sense, among other guidelines, it includes the obligation to inform users that they are acquiring a exclusive license to access and use digital media, clarifying that they are not really the owners.