Valve is finally putting to rest any possible doubts about owning games on Steam by clearly stating that its users receive a license to play the games they pay for on Steam.
Once you add the game to your Steam cart, you will be able to read the message: “Purchase of a digital product grants you a license to the product on Steam.” Below the message, users will find a link allowing access to the entire subscription agreement. In brief: we don’t actually own the games we pay for on the platform – regardless of whether they cost the same as physical copies.
The actual ownership of Steam games has always been a controversial issue. Insiders have always expressed distaste for not actually buying the games they pay for. Others have spent who knows how many hard-earned dollars, blissfully unaware that they are simply gaining access to Steam property.
What doesn’t “having games on Steam” actually mean?
Ultimately, this means that Valve – hopefully in an extreme case – could block you from accessing any game (even if you have it installed) if the company finds a justification deemed reasonable enough by the company itself.
While the exact reason for Steam’s newfound openness is unknown, it is likely a calculated response to California’s upcoming 2025 law regarding transparency of rights ownership.
GOG, of course, used Steam’s updated transparency notice to respond. Competitor store Steam quickly tweeted that digital products you buy on GOG will provide offline installation. GOG then made a very robust and practical argument, stating that even a zombie epidemic that would cut off your Internet access would not be able to distract you from GOG games.
It’s great that you can have GOG games as long as you have a working computer, and ironically, Steam can force you to fight a horde of zombies IRL if you really want to relive it Left 4 Dead 2. Still, it’s worth remembering that even in the GOG store you simply sell licenses. The main difference is that once you get your hands on a game, GOG can’t take it away from you, whereas with Steam it’s always possible.
