A future where you don’t ‘own’ anything has already come for video games

Philippe Tremblay, director of subscriptions for leading video game publisher Ubisoft, suggested early this year that people need to get “comfortable” with no longer owning the games they buy.

He was discussing the challenges facing the Ubisoft+ subscription service (think: Netflix for “Assassin’s Creed” games), but the comments were widely viewed as an ominous glimpse into the future of digital media ownership — or it would be, if that really existed.

• The FTC notes that you generally don’t own the things you buy digitally; you’re usually just buying a license to use a movie, album, video game, or phone app, which could be revoked at any time.
• Trustworthy digital storefronts shouldn’t do that without good reason, but you never know.

Where do we go from here?

A new California law wants to prevent digital stores from saying you’re “buying” something if really you’re getting a license.

Steam, the megapopular digital storefront for PC games, is already on board.

• Steam updated its checkout page to say you’re buying a “license” for a game, not an actual permanent copy.
• Not everyone just sells a license: Competing retailer GOG put out a cheeky tweet stating that it sells offline installers that “cannot be taken away from you.”

What does all this mean for the gaming business?

Let’s look at one gaming powerhouse, Microsoft, whose Game Pass subscription service is central to this “You don’t own anything” future.

Microsoft put all its published games on Game Pass while investing heavily in gaming studios, but US subscription revenue has been stagnant since 2022. The results:

• Tango Gameworks, which Microsoft acquired in 2021, launched “Hi-Fi Rush” on Game Pass in 2023 to critical acclaim and millions of downloads. 
• Many people didn’t mind not “owning” the game, but without translating into actual sales for Microsoft, it shut down Tango in May (plus several other studios that worked on Game Pass titles).

It appears the flailing gaming business will only be on solid footing when you’re paying for industry giants’ services, like Game Pass, and buying digital games that you don’t really own anyway.

The future that Tremblay talked about is already here — and it seems consumers are strangely the ones most comfortable with it.