Last year over 70% of video games purchased were in digital form. This is the reason why the PlayStation 5 Pro console launched this year is no longer offered with a built-in Blu-ray drive. On the PC platform, Steam is the most popular digital game store. Over the weekend Steam confirmed that the games purchased through them were not in fact owned by customers.
Instead, all this time users simply bought licenses for video games on Steam. This public announcement was noticed by IGN and it is closely related to a bill in California that requires platforms to inform customers in more detail about products purchased digitally. This way if a video game is pulled from Steam, customers can't complain about not being able to access it in the future.
Shortly after this report went viral, GOG issued a statement that every game purchased through them belongs to the customer. Games can be downloaded and then saved by the customer. They just need to download the installer app offline to install it later. If GoG ceases operations tomorrow, customers don't have to worry about the game not being playable anymore.
The issue of digital ownership will be a hot topic in the near future. Ubisoft previously received criticism after the game The Crew could no longer be played in offline mode despite being physically purchased by customers. Sony, on the other hand, automatically deleted all Concord games from game reviewers' consoles after support was discontinued.