Four California PlayStation buyers who spent hundreds of dollars on digital goods allege they received only limited, revocable licenses rather than ownership, paying more than they otherwise would have. The complaint claims the PlayStation Store uses ownership language like "Buy Now" and "Confirm Purchase" while burying the license disclosure in small, unhighlighted text above the confirmation button, falling short of California's digital-goods transparency law. On June 18, 2026, Andrew Garcia, Edward Heycock, Jason Mendoza, and John Salinas sued Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:26-cv-06016.

Sony moved on August 21, 2026 to compel individual arbitration under the PlayStation Terms of Service and, in the alternative, to dismiss the complaint with prejudice. The company argued under the heading "Reasonable Consumers Would Not Be Misled" that it is not plausible consumers believed they were obtaining ownership. The case remains active with a hearing scheduled for October 1, 2026.

The plaintiffs' recent purchases include titles like NBA 2K25, NBA 2K26, and Resident Evil Requiem. Sony announced on July 1, 2026 that it would end physical disc production for new PlayStation games starting January 2028.