Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra has shared his thoughts about digital ownership, demanding that PlayStation make drastic changes to the way that game purchases are made. Like most digital storefronts, the PlayStation Store offers a limited concept of ownership. PlayStation abruptly removed more than 500 movies from the libraries of users after digital rights expired, and many are concerned that this kind of thing could also happen with video games.
Concerns over digital ownership rights have been a hot topic of discussion for several years. Discussions about an all-digital future came back up following the recent announcement that GTA 6 will not have a disc version. Rockstar’s latest Grand Theft Auto game is one of the most highly-anticipated video games of all-time, but the lack of a true physical version has led to a lot of worries about the future of ownership.
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Mike Ybarra Seeks a Digital Promise from PlayStation
Following Rockstar’s announcement, it was revealed that PlayStation will stop manufacturing discs in 2028. This means that PS5 owners will only be able to purchase digital copies of games. In a post on Twitter, Mike Ybarra commented on PlayStation’s plans, and he had a lot to say about the situation. The former Blizzard president wants to see PlayStation make a “digital promise” to its fans, where the company would have no ability to remove games from the library of a user.
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PlayStation shut down Concord and other live-service games, and Ybarra was quick to note that he understands how there’s a difference between single-player and multiplayer games. Basically, the digital promise wouldn’t apply in those cases. What Ybarra wants is simply an assurance that PlayStation won’t be able to turn off a user’s purchased games the way that it has with movies. That concern has been shared a lot on social media since PlayStation announced the change in strategy. There’s a perception that digital purchases don’t imply ownership, and Ybarra wants that to change.
In addition to the digital promise, Ybarra wants PlayStation to revamp the way purchases work to offer more freedom. The post lays out potential changes such as the ability to easily lend digital games to friends and the option to sell or trade in used games. Additionally, Ybarra wants a way for users to proudly display their game libraries. Since many people enjoy sharing their collections of physical video games, the idea is that they should also have a way to showcase the ones that they own digitally.
It remains to be seen whether PlayStation will take any of this advice into consideration, but the company has seen a lot of negativity following its all-digital announcement. Some companies are poking fun at PlayStation, and the replies to Ybarra’s post show that a lot of people want to see changes before the company switches to an all-digital strategy. If PlayStation plans on sticking to its goal of only releasing digital games starting in 2028, it may need to find ways of assuring fans that the games they purchase actually belong to them and can’t be taken away.