SAN FRANCISCO — Sony Interactive Entertainment told a federal court that "reasonable consumers would not be misled" into thinking they own the digital PlayStation games they pay for — they get a license — and asked Judge Vince Chhabria either to shove the case into individual arbitration or dismiss it.

The Aug. 21, 2026, motion in Heycock v. Sony (N.D. Cal.), covered this week by Game File, Tom's Hardware, and VGC, answers a June class action over PlayStation Store "Buy" / "Confirm Purchase" buttons under California AB 2426. That 2025 law requires clear, conspicuous plain-language notice that a digital "purchase" is a license — or an affirmative checkout acknowledgment — when sellers use ownership-sounding words.

Sony's filing, available on CourtListener, quotes the PlayStation Terms of Service and Software Product License Agreement: a purchase buys "a personal license," users "do not own the product," and "The software is licensed to you, not sold." Plaintiffs say that language is buried. Sony says it is enough, and that digital copies are not exclusive property the way a physical disc is — otherwise one buyer could block everyone else from the same title.

Plaintiffs' opposition is due Sept. 4; Sony's reply Sept. 11; hearing Oct. 1. The court has not ruled that PlayStation's disclosures comply with California law, and no class is certified. The fight lands as Sony phases out physical discs for new first-party releases starting in 2028, sharpening what "buy" means when the disc shelf disappears.

If "Buy Now" really means "rent a revocable license until we change the ToS," say so at the button — not 2,000 words into a PDF. Platforms that want the revenue of ownership language should not hide behind license fine print when a state statute finally asks them to speak English.

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