Sony argues 'reasonable consumers' already know they don't own digital games

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Sony Interactive Entertainment argued in an August 21st court filing that reasonable consumers would not be misled into believing they own the digital games they purchase from the PlayStation Store, responding to a proposed class action lawsuit filed in June by four California PlayStation users. The plaintiffs allege Sony violates a California digital goods law, AB 2426, by using terms like Buy and Purchase at checkout without clearly disclosing that these transactions only grant a revocable license rather than actual ownership

Sony's filing points to its Terms of Service and Software Product License Agreement, which state plainly that the software is licensed to you, not sold, arguing that reasonable consumers already understand this reality in the digital age and that Sony isn't obligated to repeat that disclosure more prominently at the point of purchase itself. Sony is also asking the court to push the case into individual arbitration rather than let it proceed as a class action, citing an arbitration clause contained in the same Terms of Service whose adequacy is actually the subject of the lawsuit

The timing has drawn particular attention since it comes just months before Sony plans to end physical PlayStation disc production entirely in January 2028, meaning digital purchases will soon be the only way to buy PlayStation games going forward. Curious what people think about Sony's actual legal argument here, is claiming consumers already understand they're only licensing a game a reasonable defense, or does it undercut Sony's own marketing language that uses ownership implying terms like Buy at every checkout

Reasonable Consumers Know They Dont Own Digital Downloads Sony Sayswww.engadget.com