Valve reminds Steam users they don't actually own a darn thing they buy, GOG pounces and says its games "cannot be taken away from you" thanks to offline installers
A subtle change has arrived to the Steam shopping experience to drive home the fact that you're buying a game license rather than a copy of a game that you'll definitely own forever, and rival storefront GOG already seems to be weighing in on the matter.
As reported by Engadget, if you're about to buy a new game on Steam, you'll now notice a new message pop up, which reads: "A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam." This disclaimer appears as though it's likely related to a California law set to come into effect next year, which'll stop digital storefronts from using words like "buy" in relation to things like game licenses unless it's obvious what people are spending their money on, as part of a move to make it clearer to consumers what they actually own (or rather, what they don't).
Needless to say, this new message on Steam has already caused quite a stir, so much so that it's seemingly reached the ears of rival storefront GOG. GOG is famously free of digital rights management (DRM), and offers its customers offline installers for the games it sells which you can download onto your PC where they can remain safe forever, so it's understandable that the site might have some thoughts on all this.
