Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> Steam's policy is that an already published game can only be delisted, allowing old owners to still play the game. I still own the original versions of Skyrim (before Anniversary edition, definitive edition, and all other *ditions), and I can still download it and play it, even though that version is not available for purchase in the store anymore.

No. Their policy is:

> This license ends upon termination of (a) this Agreement or (b) a Subscription that includes the license. The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

And their disclaimer disavows any rights you have to use the software or for it not to become broken.

And they prohibit transferring your account or licenses in any fashion, which means they are at best only going to become void when you pass.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement*



That's the license they sign with you, ie the legal commitment they make and powers they reserve.

Policy is the internal, non-binding decision they make about how they exercise those powers, which GP comment accurately described.


I'm not talking about licenses or owning the game, I'm talking about if a publisher removes a game for whatever reason, you don't immediately lose access to that game, you can play it forever after. That is their current de facto policy, with probably a few exceptions.

The discussion on wether you truly own a licensed game is a different thing from what I said.


Developers/Steam are expressly allowed to break the game in-place so even that is an imaginary "right".


You can dowgrade a version of a game, if you want to. Is not as easy as clicking a button, but it is possible and not against ToS




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: