Four gamers are suing PlayStation maker Sony Interactive Entertainment and seeking class-action status under California’s digital goods transparency law, AB2426, which took effect in 2025. In short, companies are required to tell customers that digital goods like video games and music are licenses, not outright purchases like a physical object. PlayStation does feature language with the intent to disclose this information, but the lawsuit alleges it is not enough.
The timing is likely not a coincidence. In recent weeks and months, several video games have been shut down, and those who own them are unable to continue playing them once they are completely offline. While many of these games are not PlayStation’s own, it’s worth highlighting the recent shutdown of online services for Destruction AllStars. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Destruction AllStars was a 2021 PS5 exclusive that was delisted with online servers shut down in May 2026. The only thing remaining on it is the single-player mode, which is a shell of what the game was, and it too will be gone on November 25. Such shutdowns are not outright named in the lawsuit, but it is reflective of its direction.
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PlayStation Store Facing a New Lawsuit
The new lawsuit, filed for allegedly breaking a California law requiring digital storefronts to clearly disclose when consumers are buying licenses (not actual games), states that language like “Buy Now” and “Confirm Purchase” intentionally mislead folks (as lawyers wrote in a recent complaint, as first reported by Aftermath). The four gamers were not aware they’d purchased licenses to play games, not buy them, according to the complaint.
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In it, lawyers suggest that when someone checks out on the PlayStation Store and hits “Confirm Purchase,” nothing is required of shoppers to confirm they have read and understood the disclosure—wherein, above said button, there is a note informing shoppers of this. However, the complaint alleges that it is still small and a “reasonable customer completes a purchase would not necessarily notice this disclosure.”
It remains to be seen how this lawsuit moves forward, but it’s worth noting that this is not simply limited to California. Gamers the world over use these stores, are limited to licenses, and do not have outright ownership of their games. That came to a head when Ubisoft shut down The Crew, its online-only racing game, in 2023, which served as inspiration for this law. This was also the crux that kick-started the Stop Killing Games movement, which has been pushing for an alternative to shutting down games in the United States and Europe.
It’s worth noting that this is not the only lawsuit filed over similar issues (GameStop was sued for similar issues before it was voluntarily dismissed), nor is it the only lawsuit filed against PlayStation/Sony this year. In May, a lawsuit against Sony was filed for allegedly hiking PS5 prices to deal with tariffs, but not passing those on to consumers who purchased a PS5 during that time. Essentially, it alleges Sony profited twice: once on the initial raised-price sale, second time on the kickback from tariffs.