I have been an avid steam user for years, and as a PC gamer and enthusiast, this has been the One and only application that I have been 100% loyal to like all in… But they updated the terms of use and apparently now, stating that buying is not owning, you just have a license that can be revoked whenever the publisher decides to.

** Several things I have purchased on there have been taken away, and I am considering not using it at all anymore**. First and most egregious thing that has been taken away from me are DLC. I played Destiny 2 for a really long while and after purchasing several DLC, came back to the game to find that stuff that I had planned on finishing later was completely removed from the game but I wasn’t given a refund. I reached out to support and was told that they can totally do this. They can just steal from you, you buy something, they just take it away and remove it from the game entirely, and no refund. So live service on Steam is a hell no for me. There have been numerous other games though that have been taken away as well, one example being Total War battles colon kingdoms, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost recon phantoms.

Just makes me wonder, what’s the point of even using Steam anymore if they can just take whatever you purchase away from you and no refund at all? It’s basically theft. Like, imagine You purchase a PlayStation 5 game and they send the police into your home to retrieve it to make sure that you no longer have it anymore simply because they stop selling it. Absolutely insane how anyone can support this business model

  • BertramDitore@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    17 days ago

    Your anger is entirely justified, and I share it. This whole licensing issue is a massive problem and shows how little publishers care about their customers. That said, this has always been the case, they’ve just covered their legal bases by updating their TOS.

    But to answer your question, there’s no reason to keep using steam, other than it’s one of the easiest ways to legally game. It’s totally your preference if you want to keep supporting their business. There are lots of ways to illegally game, or pay way more for some DRM-free games that you can actually own, but then you’ll be extremely limited in your selection. I’ve invested so much time and money in my steam library, that I’m basically locked in (they count on this, of course). Sure I own a bunch of games on GOG, but they represent a tiny fraction of my overall library.

    This is a totally unsatisfying answer, but your only actual recourse, if you want to keep using steam, is to reach out to them and express your displeasure at their updated TOS and its implications. But it’s an industry-wide problem, so I think we’re out of luck until Congress gets involved and changes how digital ownership works.

    • FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      17 days ago

      That said, this has always been the case, they’ve just covered their legal bases by updating their TOS.

      Can you be a little more specific with your definition of this and always? I am old enough to remember that when you purchased a physical copy of a game, you got the game in it’s entirety in perpetuity. Eg: I still have my Donkey Kong cartridge for my Atari 800. To be a little more current, I have a copy of Kerbal Space Program from the company that I can download the entire copy of the game and install it on my pc. So what do you mean by your comment, as I remember a time when it wasn’t the case that you were only purchasing a license? Or do you mean that it’s always been the case with these services?

      I was just had by rockstar when they cut off certain people who paid to play GTA Online and are now blocked. I will be voting with my wallet and never purchasing another rockstar game in the future, and in case they ever happened to see this, I was considering picking up the rdr games not only on pc, but my xbox and maybe even the switch. It has soured me to the point where this steam issue more of a concern and something I will be keeping an eye on.

      Also, one last comment about your last line. We don’t need congress to get involved if we as a collective of gamers just gathered together and stopped “licensing” their games. Just like if everyone, instead of complaining about the price of beer and hotdogs at stadiums, would just stop buying them for a while, the people raping our wallets would be forced to bring prices down. But alas, I think the chances of that happening are next to zero.

      • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.businessEnglish
        0·
        17 days ago

        old enough to remember that when you purchased a physical copy of a game, you got the game in it’s entirety in perpetuity

        There’s a lot of conflation about the method of delivery vs what you actually bought.

        You’ve always been buying a license to use the software in perpetuity, and because there was no other option, you got the software that was licensed delivered to you on physical media.

        The only thing that’s changed is we’ve stopped doing physical media and now do digital distribution which isn’t a thing you can put on a bookshelf.

        And then we layered DRM on top of it, and so you are in a position where they actually can revoke your license, and yank the software out from under you, which is another lovely new “improvement” that didn’t exist prior.

    • missingno@fedia.io
      0·
      17 days ago

      This is a totally unsatisfying answer, but your only actual recourse, if you want to keep using steam, is to reach out to them and express your displeasure at their updated TOS and its implications.

      Valve’s TOS hasn’t actually changed. The new law just requires them to more clearly disclose that a license is not ownership, but that was always the case.