Forty-four. That is how many times, so far, the Consumer Rights Wiki has caught Sony telling PlayStation players that they own their digital games. The shift here is not about hardware. It is about vocabulary, and the vocabulary is now being used as evidence.
The list landed just as Sony was telling a California court the opposite. In a filing, the company argued that “reasonable consumers” would not be misled into thinking a game “purchased” on the PlayStation Store is theirs to keep. Tom’s Hardware said the wiki’s count stands at 44 documented statements, while noting hundreds of examples of ownership wording across Sony’s services and pages.
What the suit is really about
Four gamers brought the class action in June, CNET reported. They say Sony broke California’s AB 2426, a 2024 law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It tells sellers of digital goods to disclose clearly when buyers are only getting a license, and it limits words like “buy” and “purchase” unless that disclosure is made during checkout.
The plaintiffs point to the buttons “Buy Now” and “Confirm Purchase,” which they saw while buying titles among them Resident Evil Requiem and NBA 2K25. They say they paid more than they would have had they known the purchase was a revocable license.
Sony’s answer, in a motion filed on Aug. 21, leans on its own terms. Section 8.4 of the PlayStation Terms says a buyer gets a personal license and does “not own the product.” Section 10.1 adds that words such as “own,” “sell” and “buy” carry no promise that ownership changes hands. Sony also argues that a digital copy can be sold again and again, so the first buyer cannot have taken ownership of it. Digital Trends, citing GameFile, reported the same line of defence.
Sony’s own words
This is where the wiki bites. It records phrases such as “digital PS4 game you already own” and “games you own” from Sony’s websites, with links to the live pages, archived snapshots and screenshots that highlight the relevant text. Gadget Review pointed out that none of this proves ownership in a legal sense. It does create a gap between what Sony said to shoppers and what Sony now says in court, and that gap is the raw material for a consumer-confusion argument.
Louis Rossmann, the consumer rights advocate and YouTuber, founded the wiki. Much of the work came from the community around it.
Timing and next steps
The pressure is rising because Sony announced it would stop making discs for new PlayStation titles in January 2028. Tom’s Hardware noted that, most players already buy digitally; one estimate puts digital at 85% of PlayStation game sales.
Sony wants the case thrown out, or sent to individual arbitration, since the four plaintiffs agreed to arbitration and waived class actions when they accepted the PlayStation terms. CNET also noted that Sony also emailed PlayStation users, apparently right after its motion, with a reminder of the terms: the games are licensed, nothing more. A similar suit against GameStop, filed in January, is still going.
Watch this space: if the case reaches a public ruling, it could set a precedent on how digital storefronts word the checkout button.
Sources
- Consumer Rights Wiki documents at least 44 instances in which Sony says you own your games (Tom's Hardware)
- PlayStation gamers sue Sony over what buying a digital game really means (CNET)
- Sony's defense against a digital ownership lawsuit (Digital Trends)
- Consumer Rights Wiki has a list of all the times Sony said players own their games (Gadget Review)
