Whenever someone checks out on any of the various online video game stores, it’s likely that they believe they own the game they just bought; however, most video games are only sold as a license to play the game, effectively removing the buyer’s ownership. Is this corporate overreach? Is this a threat to consumers everywhere?
Many players’ first thoughts on this would be thoughts of outrage, even modern discs only have a small amount of data on them and still need a download, requiring players to enter into a license agreement in order to play. “But I bought it,” said Jacob Jimenez, a junior at Pahrump Valley High School, “That should mean that I own it.” With so many developers and retailers switching to this method of selling games, quite a few eyebrows are raised at the role of ownership in video game spaces.
Sorry to say, but there’s no real issue here. In fact, partial ownership is more beneficial for a number of reasons. By only selling the license, video game retailers like Steam and PlayStation are able to better handle cheaters. Because players only have a license, retailers can revoke that license in case of a breach of the User License Agreement. Partial ownership also allows developers and retailers to be more strict with individuals attempting to resell their video games for a profit. Since the player doesn’t own the game, they don’t have the right to sell their games.
Partial ownership also allows games to receive updates to their security, gameplay, and graphics without needing to worry about those who don’t or can’t update their games. In the modern day, most games pride themselves on being “live service,” which means they receive frequent updates. With older discs that gave the buyer a physical copy of the game, these updates would be very difficult to achieve. With partial ownership, however, developers can force updates to make sure that every player is on the most recent version.
There are very few downsides to partial ownership, and none of those downsides affect the average player. When games face constant updates, modded content often stops working or can quickly become obsolete. “I like playing with mods, but I guess it makes sense,” said Christain Taylor, a senior at PVHS. This is a minor setback in an otherwise worthwhile model. The mods don’t work for the same reason cheating stops working; new, conflicting content and security measures simply outpace both mods and cheats.
Many video game retailers are switching to partial ownership sales, and at first glance, it may be seen as a scam or a cheap corporate tactic. But when considering the multitude of benefits in security, gameplay, and quality of life, it becomes clear that partial ownership is the way to go.
