Technically... (Gaming)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, March 07, 2018, 13:06 (2794 days ago) @ Claude Errera
edited by Cody Miller, Wednesday, March 07, 2018, 13:10

That model never really existed. You can have the one-time physical media purchase, but the actual game content is still only available to you as a license.

I keep hearing this but it simply is not true, or it as least not treated as true. If it were, you could break your game disc, and request a low cost replacement since you already paid for the license. Never have I heard of anyone being able to do that.

Why would the developer need to provide you with a low-cost replacement disc if you broke yours? You might THINK that's a reasonable attitude, but there are no rules that require that, and no benefit to the developer to act that way; lots of replacement parts are super-expensive not because they cost the manufacturer a lot, but because the manufacturer wants to discourage the ordering of said parts.

I guess i don't see how the license agreement obligates the developer to act in a specific way vis-a-vis the actual medium.

(And with downloadable content, you DO see a free replacement if the physical media is damaged; both Xbox and Playstation allow a new download if you get a new console, bolstering the 'only-licensed' argument.)

We were talking about physical sales, not digital. Of course digital lets you re-download.

If you already have a license, the cost of a replacement media disc should not include another license cost, but rather only the cost of manufacture of the new disc. If $60 is "license + physical distribution costs", a replacement disc should only be "physical distribution costs".

Buy an expensive piece of software ($1000+), and see if you can request another disc for cheap. You pretty much always can, because you've already paid for the license. You're paying for the key basically.