Why did California start requiring digital-game licence disclosures?
California acted after The Crew showed how an online game sold through a storefront could become unusable and reportedly disappear from purchasers’ accounts. Section 17500.6 therefore makes sellers using buy-or-purchase language give a distinct licence disclosure or obtain affirmative acknowledgement. Steam added cart language saying that a digital-product purchase grants a licence before the law took effect, but the effective statute made the rule enforceable under California’s False Advertising Law.
Trace the chain
The Crew shutdown
- 1The Crew is delistedAnnouncement
Ubisoft delists The Crew and sets a date to switch off its servers
Ubisoft removed the 2014 open-world racing game from digital storefronts and said every server would go dark on 31 March 2024, blaming server infrastructure and licensing constraints. The game had no offline mode, so the shutdown would make it unplayable for everyone who had bought it.
Eurogamer ·
The game will remain playable until 31st March 2024, after which all servers will be shut down across all platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Amazon Luna, and Ubisoft+. "We understand this may be…
Why it matters here. Ubisoft’s announced server cutoff put continued access to the online-only game at risk, so the game became inoperable once the servers were shut down.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
- 2Servers go darkUpdate
The Crew becomes inoperable after Ubisoft's server shutdown
The online-only game The Crew stopped operating on April 1. The game required Ubisoft servers to operate.
Engadget ·
Ubisoft's online-only racing game The Crew stopped being operable on April 1.
Why it matters here. The game’s failure to operate left purchasers checking whether they could still access it, so users reported revoked Ubisoft Connect licences.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
- 3Licences reportedly revokedReport
Players report Ubisoft revoked The Crew licences from accounts
Users reported that Ubisoft revoked licences to access The Crew from Ubisoft Connect accounts. The report described the removal as occurring after the game became inoperable.
Engadget ·
They say that the company actually reached into Ubisoft Connect accounts and revoked the license to access the game, according to reports by Game Rant and others.
Why it matters here. The reported account removals made revocable digital access a concrete issue, so California enacted a digital-goods disclosure law.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
California disclosure
- 4California enacts AB 2426Regulatory
California enacts AB 2426, the digital-goods disclosure law
Governor Newsom signed Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin's bill adding Section 17500.6 to the Business and Professions Code. It makes it unlawful to advertise a digital good with words like buy or purchase unless the seller either takes an affirmative acknowledgement that the transaction is a licence, or shows a clear and conspicuous statement to that effect before checkout.
California Legislative Information ·
An act to add Section 17500.6 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to consumer protection. [ Approved by Governor September 24, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State September 24, 2024. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S…
Why it matters here. The new statutory disclosure standard gave digital storefronts reason to clarify what a checkout purchase provides, so Steam added a licence notice in its cart.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
- 5Steam adds licence noticeResponse
Steam starts telling shoppers they are buying a licence
A line appeared at the bottom of the Steam shopping cart reading that a purchase of a digital product grants a licence for the product on Steam. Valve added it months before the California law took effect, and it was the first of the big storefronts to change its checkout copy.
Engadget ·
When you open your shopping cart with items inside and before going to payment, a notice at the bottom right states: "A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam."
Why it matters here. Steam’s cart wording arrived before the new rule’s start date, so Section 17500.6 then took effect for digital goods.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
- 6Disclosure rule takes effectRegulatory
Section 17500.6 takes effect
California's False Advertising Law now reaches digital goods. The acknowledgement or the disclosure has to be separate and distinct from the rest of the terms and conditions, and the section covers video games, applications, audio and audiovisual works, e-books and redemption codes.
Thompson Coburn LLP ·
Section 17500.6 further requires that the purchaser's express acknowledgment and the seller's "clear and conspicuous statement" be separate and distinct from the other terms and conditions of the transaction.
Why it matters here. The effective statute made digital goods subject to California’s False Advertising Law when sellers use buy-or-purchase language without the required licence treatment.
Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
Timelines in this chain
- Do You Own Your Games? The Crew, AB 2426 and the Buy-Button Lawsuits
- The Road to PlayStation 6: PS5 Pro, Project Amethyst, Two Price Hikes and the Memory Crunch
- Nintendo Switch 2: From the Successor Tease to a Record Launch, 23 Million Units and the $499.99 Price
- Grand Theft Auto VI: From 'Well Underway' to Two Delays, the $79.99 Price and the November 19 Launch
A chain is written by the editor from entries already published on the timelines above, each of which was read against its source before publication. The chain changes when those entries do. Data and terms.