Can you ever really own a video game? Players explain pitfalls of digital ownership
Buying a game is easy. Keeping it is more difficult in 2022. Delisted games, closed digital storefronts, and shuttered online servers are major concerns in the digital ownership era. That unfortunate reality became clearer this summer following the announcement that Assassin’s Creed Liberation will be removed from Steam, along with news that the XCOM 2, Killzone: Mercenaries, and Killzone: Shadowfall servers will shut down in August 2022.
The modern era of video game ownership is complex, bringing as many pros as it does cons. While buying digitally is convenient and can be less expensive than purchasing physically, it also comes with a myriad of problems — especially when games are removed from digital storefronts altogether. Sometimes, players can lose access to certain games even if they already own them.
I use the word “own” loosely there. Even when buying physically, do we really own our games anymore? Since many games need to be connected to the internet to function, it means that online servers will inevitably close, rendering them unplayable to all.
To get a clearer picture of just how gamers feel about game ownership, I spoke with a wide variety of players about their buying habits. Although the responses were mixed, most gamers I spoke with share a disdain for the current landscape of media ownership. Even when players lean toward physical media, it doesn’t always matter if you have a disc or a cartridge.
Despite the issues that come with a digital ecosystem, it’s the preferred method for a major portion of players.
In fact, throughout the first quarter of 2022, 71% of the 70.5 million total games that Sony sold were bought digitally on PlayStation. That’s over 50 million games. While it can be tricky to
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