Ubisoft executive Philippe Tremblay can eat his heart out as California governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill preventing the use of certain language in ToS policies, specifically surrounding ownership of games. As you may remember, early in the year, the exec espoused one of the most ridiculous statements a spokesperson could say — asserting that gamers need to get more comfortable not owning their games.
With this new law, AB 2426, which goes into effect next year, takes aim at the delisting of games such as The Crew, which shut down and revoked licenses, as well as the litany of anti-consumer practices that spawned thanks to the death of physical media. Words like “buy” or “purchase” are no longer allowed in the terms unless it’s noted that said media is just a license rather than actual ownership.
How is this a win for media preservation?
This is a huge win for games preservation awareness; it might not actually prevent anything, but more people will be aware of the shady practices behind bigger studios when they learn that they don’t, in fact, own games that they spent $60-$70 on.
I feel this a big step forward, even if it’s not quite feeling like it is — companies like Ubisoft and the aforementioned Tremblay asserted a greed-filled mindset as well as blatant disregard of consumer rights. It was only made worse when dataminers found an offline mode exists hidden in the code.
Sony, on the other hand, solely showed a blatant disregard for common practices shown with media, while we can’t access content from dead websites, Sony has the funds to keep the service or provide alternatives for those affected by its initial plans to pull Discovery content altogether, leaving people gave them money to keep that piece of media safe unable to view that content. It took people calling the corp out before they backed off.
Really, what AB 2426 will accomplish is more of an educational purpose than anything as companies will still demolish their reputations to save a quick buck after charging you $70.
Owner
GWare is a gaming industry reporter with over five years of experience and a massive supporter of ethical game preservation efforts.