Valve’s digital gaming platform Steam has quietly begun displaying license warnings for games added to their shopping carts. The warnings indicate that users are purchasing a license to play the game, not the game itself.

Steam reminds us that you have purchased a game license

The license warnings have emerged without Valve making an official announcement. It has been reported that the change may be related to a new law that went into effect in California that requires online platforms to be more transparent with consumers about what they are purchasing.

The law that went into effect earlier this year requires digital sales platforms to clearly inform users that they have acquired a license, not full ownership, of a digital product such as a movie, song or video game. Failure to comply with the law can result in fines from the state of California.

Accordingly, when Steam users add a game to their cart, they receive a short message that says, “You are purchasing a license to play this game on Steam, not the game itself. This license does not include any additional rights to the game’s intellectual property.”

The warning also directs users to Steam’s subscription agreement for more information about software licenses. This change is not expected to change how Steam and games work. Players will be able to download and play their purchased games through their Steam libraries as usual.

It is not yet clear whether similar license warnings will be applied to other major game stores, such as the Epic Games Store, GOG, or the digital marketplaces of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.