Owning a game vs owning a license to play a game -- one that can be removed very suddenly. EA placed numerous forum account bans in 2011 that affected the games of the offending account.
Digital distribution and content delivery software bring the question of owning a game vs paying for the ability to 'rent' a game to the forefront. Gaming lawyer Jas Purewal states;
"[....]he explains that the commonly taken position is that when we buy a boxed
game, we own the DVD, but only have a license for the software on it.
“A ‘licence’,” Purewal explains, “is essentially a limited personal
right to use the software on certain terms and conditions – it doesn’t
give you the right to e.g. sell/transfer/copy/reproduce the software.” [Walker, John. 2012]
However, the article goes on to note that with a physical DVD, we at least have some power over resale and ownership. However, in the digital distirbution market, there is no power over resale and at any time, the ability to play the games you've bought can be taken away.
In 2012, Valve changed their ToS to deny customers the right to a class-action lawsuit -- stating the only way to resolve a dispute is through an arbitration. Customers sent query in regards to what would happen if they did not wish to accept this new terms of service, and received the following response:
"Thank you for contacting Steam Support. We can permanently deactivate your account for you, remove any stored payment information and clear your Steam profile. Disabling your account will not result in a refund, as explained in the Steam Subscriber Agreement. The games in your account will not be accessible for future use. It is impossible to make your games available once your account has been deactivated and your information deleted or archived. Once we have permanently deactivated the account, we will not be able to reactivate the account upon a future request.
Please let me know if you would like to proceed." [Alderman, Justin. 2012]
Ubisoft DRM.
Do we own our Steam games?
Steam changes ToS, will remove games if customer doesn't accept.
Account disable.
Valve's ToS.
Valve sued in Germany.
Walker, John (2012). Thought: Do We Own Our Steam Games?. Available: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/01/thought-do-we-own-our-steam-games/. Last accessed 06/02/13.
Alderman, Justin. (2012). 0 Valve: Accept New Steam Subscriber Agreement Or Disable Your Account. Available: http://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/valve-accept-steam-subscriber-agreement-disable-account/. Last accessed 06/02/13.
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