French court: Steam must allow resale of games
A French court has ruled that Valve may not prohibit its customers from reselling games. Valve intends to appeal the decision.
It's one of the biggest annoyances of digital games. Once you buy them, you can never resell them. Even if you get a physical disc in the shop. As soon as you redeem the corresponding game code on Steam, Uplay or Origin, it is tied to your account forever. This will soon be a thing of the past. At least if the French court Tribunal de grande instance (TGI) in Paris has its way.
As the French gamer site Numerama reports, the court ruled a few days ago that European consumers are allowed to resell digital games in the same way as physical games. The lawsuit against Valve and the online shop Steam was filed by the French consumer protection organisation UFC-Que Choisir four years ago.
Valve's handling of digital goods is contrary to European law. This stipulates that all goods, including digital goods, may be sold freely in the EU without the consent of the manufacturer. The court rejected Valve's objection that Steam is a subscription service. The terms and conditions when purchasing a game state that you are only purchasing a licence. However, the TGI ruled that it was a permanent purchase.
Valve wants to appeal the court decision. A spokesperson told the game site Polygon that the decision has no effect on Steam while the case is under appeal.
If Valve were to lose the legal dispute, this would have a huge impact on the trade in games. We Swiss can hope that, as a non-EU country, we will also be able to enjoy the resale right. <p
Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.