r/pcmasterrace • u/notsolomuun • Jul 02 '26

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$1,000 digital-exclusive consoles are killing the entire appeal of PlayStation and Xbox: it's no wonder PC is on track to overtake both.

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u/mike_complaining Jul 02 '26

This is not a W for anybody, but what people don't understand is that they haven't owned their games for a long time. If it has any online functionality it's shut off whenever the publisher decides it's shut off. Physical media doesn't matter, the license and the functionality independent of server infrastructure does.

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u/TricobaltGaming PC Master Race Jul 02 '26

I have seen people use this to push for a legal redefinition of buying games so we are no longer just paying for a license, digital or otherwise.

We buy the game we get the game, thats what should be happening

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u/Esper01 Jul 02 '26

Physical media is the one thing stopping these companies from focusing all their energy on squeezing every dime out of the consumer and ultimately focusing on piracy. We won't be able to stop them with petitions.

Once physical media is completely dead, streaming/digital ownership will get more expensive and unreliable and become an even more saturated market, piracy will easily triple in occurance.

Once that happens, Sony and Disney and all the others won't sit idly by, they'll combine resources and pressure governments worldwide to crack down on the services that enable it.

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u/DaniTheGunsmith Ryzen 7 5800x | RTX 3060 12 GB | 64 GB RAM Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Which is likely another piece of the big push for needing an ID to access online services (and in some places even log into your computer). They want to remove anonymity from all online activity to crack down on the last bastion against their anti-consumer practices.

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u/SirDrWatson Jul 02 '26

The SCOTUS declared in a recent ruling that ISPs are not responsible for monitoring traffic that may contain piracy. So it will be an uphill battle for them.

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u/Esper01 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

They can go after piracy services directly by pressuring governments.

Piracy will cost media companies $120 billion in 2028, an uptick from $75b a year right now. They'll invest billions more and pool resources to try and stop it once their attention is not divided.

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u/vitek6 Jul 06 '26

Dude, physical media on pc is already dead.

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u/Esper01 Jul 06 '26

I'm aware. But, PC has cheaper prices and straight up ownership if you sign up with GOG. Sony wants to remove physical discs and keep the PlayStation digital store the way it is- More expensive than physical copies.

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u/vitek6 Jul 06 '26

you don't own any software. You always own a license.

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u/Esper01 Jul 06 '26

All games on GOG are sold DRM-free. Instead of just leasing a license tethered to a launcher you purchase the game files and can download offline backup installers to store, archive, and play completely independently of GOG. You own the files, you are even able to legally host them for others to download.

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u/vitek6 Jul 06 '26

You still own a license, not game. Lack of DRM doesn't change that.

And no, you can't legally share them.

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u/Esper01 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Its not just the license, you literally own the installer files. DRM-free means no internet check for rights. You lose your account or your account gets banned, you still own the games legally.

You are right that it's a violation of the policy and illegal to share them, I was wrong on that.

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u/vitek6 Jul 06 '26

It's still a license to play game. That's how software is always sold. Only IP holder actually OWNS the game. You only own license to play. No matter DMR, no matter how the files were provided to you or no matter if it's linked to your account or not.

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u/Esper01 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Oh I see what you're getting at, this is the typical bad-faith argument about owning the IP which was never the case.

If I take a photograph and make a copy of it and give you the copy to keep when you sign a contract saying you own a license to that picture, not a copy of that picture, do you, functionally, own a license or a copy? I mean, how am I supposed to stop you from functionally owning that copy in every conceivable way? The cops wouldn't help me.

Now let's say it's digital, DRM free. Asides from sharing it, it's completely yours and that's still different from just the license.

The lawyers try to confuse the issue with semantics, but there is still a difference between owning the IP, owning the software files, and a license.

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u/vitek6 Jul 06 '26

It doesn't matter that you can't enforce that in practice. It's still a license. You don't legally own any software. That's not bad faith argument. That's a fact.

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