So a friend of mine says no one owns their Steam games

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

I have been thinking about what a friend of mine said recently when i was buying some games during the sale, and was just wondering if there is any truth to what he said, tha no one on Steam owns their games, that we're just renting them essentially.

Is this true?

I live in the UK and under EU law it staed that we do own oour games, as when you buy a digital game the seller has sold his right to that game to you, and you have the right to resale, or i think that was the jist of it.

[Wampum Biskit]

no you are NOT renting anything.

you bought and own a license to that game , same as if you buy a physical copy , you never own the game , you own a license to the game that will allow you to play it.

people seem to get ownership of a game and licenses confused.

[kristijanH]

You can lend and resell your physical copy and destroy it if you do not like it! You cannot do anything like this with your steam games.

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

Originally posted by SyPTo:

no you are NOT renting anything.

you bought and own a license to that game , same as if you buy a physical copy , you never own the game , you own a license to the game that will allow you to play it.

people seem to get ownership of a game and licenses confused.

Do you live in the EU/UK?

I'm Not looking to resell any games I buy on Steam, I like Steam and the game i have bought so I'm keeping them, but I was more concerned about this "you're only renting your games on Steam" part that my friend said.

I know that it would have to say such a thing at the point of purchase, and I have never seen anything like that, it has to be upfront and available to read on the same payment section.

Anyway, It just made me think twice when i was buying these games LOL

[PrisonedKnight]

Renting implies that you have to give it back. You never have to with steam games.

[Wampum Biskit]

I actually lived in the EU for well over 25 years.

but no your not renting them...you are buying the license to the game , same as a physical copy..no more no less.

[landawarijaR]

You own a licence for these games but you don't own your steam account. So: If steam wants to they can disable your account and you can't access the games you own.

[Wampum Biskit]

Originally posted by Waaaghgasm:

You own a licence for these games but you don't own your steam account. So: If steam wants to they can disable your account and you can't access the games you own.

not 100% true , if you have your keys to your game , you can download a copy from somewhere , or even rent or lend it from a friend make a copy from it and use your own key (which you legally own) on that copy.

i have all my keys backed up , just incase ever something strange happens ;)

[kristijanH]

Once keys are used in steam they are useless. You cannot activete them again on steam and I higly doubt these would work anywhere outside of steam.

[landawarijaR]

Originally posted by SyPTo:

not 100% true , if you have your keys to your game , you can download a copy from somewhere , or even rent or lend it from a friend make a copy from it and use your own key (which you legally own) on that copy.

i have all my keys backed up , just incase ever something strange happens ;)

And how do you want to use the keys if the games require steam? They are bound to your account and can't be used on any other account. And, at least here in Germany, it's illegal to use cracks, even if you own the game.

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

Originally posted by SyPTo:

i have all my keys backed up , just incase ever something strange happens ;)

I'll do the same thing then, better safe than sorry if something does screw up.

[Wolfsite]

Actually if you look at the wording in the EULA and Steams agreement policy you are "subcribing" to these games, you are not purchasing a license or purchasing the game.

Go to the help directory up in the pulldown menues and it even says "Steam Subscriber agreement"

[Wampum Biskit]

no , you cannot activate them on steam again , as they are linked to your account , however some games like unreal tournament for example , you can get a copy and use that key and play it and it works.

im not going to say it will work with all the games but with most it will , not everyone has internet enabled on their PC's and keys are usually verified by the game itself , there's no internet required to make a game run , except for games that require you to be online but you can always access single player portions.

[Marble]

Originally posted by Waaaghgasm:

not 100% true , if you have your keys to your game , you can download a copy from somewhere

In theory, if your key was revoked it would indicate a breach of contract on your end and it would be revoked at all locations where you would download it.

As for lending it and using your key on copies, you would have to check the EULA and I'm fairly sure you'll find this is not allowed for most games.

[Wampum Biskit]

Originally posted by Crashedcourse:

Actually if you look at the wording in the EULA and Steams agreement policy you are "subcribing" to these games, you are not purchasing a license or purchasing the game.

Go to the help directory up in the pulldown menues and it even says "Steam Subscriber agreement"

you may want to check point 2.A .....

[Indru]

It's a matter of terms here. In this industrry, the only ones that own the game are the devs&publishers. Us customers we don't own the games. If I had own, for example, Torchlight 2, nobody else would have own it as well, because it's one game, one product. But I could still give away licences and let people play it, use my product.

That's what customers do, they own Licences, but not Games. So you have the right of playing everytime everywhere, because you own the licence. If you owned the game you probably would change it the way you wanted it to be, or doing all kinds of thing to it. But since you don't, you don't have rights on it, you can only play it.

You OWN your Licence, nobody rents anything here. You also OWN your steam account. Valve doesn't disable accounts simply because they want to. They disable if an account didn't follow a very important rule or comitted a grave deed or something. That's kinda like police arresting criminals. So if you're not one, you don't have to be afraid.