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submitted 4 days ago by ryujin470@fedia.io to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Their tagline is literally 'you buy it, you own it'. But does it really grants ownership?

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[-] plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago
[-] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 4 days ago

their eula does not state that you do not own the games.

[-] village604@adultswim.fan 5 points 4 days ago

Section 2.1:

We give you and other GOG users the personal right (known legally as a 'license') to use GOG services and to download, access and/or stream (depending on the content) and use GOG content. This license is for your personal use. We can stop or suspend this license in some situations, which are explained later on. You have the personal right to use GOG content and services. This right can be suspended or stopped by us in some situations.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

"GOG services" and "GOG content" are things like the GOG website itself, not the copies of the games you buy from it.

GOG suspending your right to use their service is analogous to a brick-and-mortar store trespassing and blacklisting you: in the same way that getting trespassed from GameStop doesn't entitle them to break into your house and confiscate everything you've previously purchased from them, getting kicked off GOG does not and legally cannot invalidate your ownership -- not "licensing," ownership -- of the games you've previously purchased from them.

[-] village604@adultswim.fan 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

1.3 Also, when we're talking about games, in-game content, virtual items or currency or GOG videos or other content or services which you can purchase or access via GOG services, we’ll just call them “GOG games” or “GOG videos” respectively and when we talk about them all together they are “GOG content”.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Okay then, I guess GoG is lying the same way Steam is after all. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but concede that I was wrong.

"Licensed not sold" is still bunk, though. They do not have the right to confiscate games you've previously purchased, no matter what their fucking User Agreement claims.

[-] village604@adultswim.fan 2 points 3 days ago

Their user agreement doesn't claim they can remove files from your computer. If your account gets suspended you no longer have access to the game you paid for unless you have previously downloaded and stored it.

I bought Witcher 3 on GOG, but I don't currently have it saved anywhere. If GOG suspends my account, I can no longer access the content I paid for

[-] grue@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Their user agreement doesn’t claim they can remove files from your computer.

Then GOG must be restricting access only to the service itself, not to your property, despite what the text says.

If GOG suspends my account, I can no longer access the content I paid for

You still own the copy of the game; it's hardly GOG's fault if you lost or destroyed it.

Expecting to have continued access to re-download indefinitely is like buying a physical book from a brick-and-mortar store, throwing it in the trash, and then expecting to be allowed to swing back by the place later to grab another copy off the shelf. Sure, it'd be nice if the store let you do that, but it would be silly to claim that not letting you do it somehow meant you never owned your copy of the book.

[-] plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago

What part of “license” is so hard for you to comprehend?

this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
151 points (100.0% liked)

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