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The debate about the physical and digital format It has been a constant in recent years in the video game industry. While the latter continues to gain ground over the former, it also involves some considerations that have only recently begun to become apparent. In this sense, a few weeks ago in California a law was signed that required it to be made explicit that the sale of digital games is not such, but rather the transfer of a license.
Now, and even though the law is only effective in the aforementioned state of the United States, Steam adds a notice indicating that what you are purchasing is a “license” and you do not own the games. Valve's platform seems to have done so proactively to avoid future legal problems and be more transparent with consumers, whose number has only grown in recent times.
You buy a license, not the games
This is the message that Steam has included when you go to the cart to buy a game:
“Purchasing a digital product grants you a license to the product on Steam.”
In addition to this more or less direct phrase, Valve offers a link to their terms and serviceswhere we can delve deeper into the issue. If we stop at the section of ownership of content and servicesthis is what Steam points out:
“The title, property rights and intellectual property rights relating to the content and services and all copies thereof are the property of Valve or its affiliated company licensors. All rights are reserved, unless otherwise expressly provided in this agreement. The contents and services are protected by copyright laws, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The content and services contain certain licensed materials, and Valve's licensors and its affiliated companies may protect their rights in the event of any breach of this agreement.
In short, none of the games you have purchased over the years on Steam are yours, but rather what you have purchased is a license that continues to belong to Valve or the licensor of said license. Although the stability of a platform like Steam seems undisturbed, it should be noted that digital libraries are completely dependent on their status, so in the event of a future closure, those games would most likely cease to be at our disposal, for a long time. that we have “bought” them.