Sony on PS4 Content ‘If You Buy It, You Own It’

Speaking to Yahoo! Games during E3 Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, addressed the company 's media content policy saying "if you buy it, you own it."

House says that there is an "increasing nervousness" about what content ownership means and says Sony doesn't consider the issue is a "storm in a teacup" adding that the company takes such issues very seriously.

"You could argue that it's a storm in a teacup – a very vocal minority of passionate gamers," House commented. "This huge outpouring of feeling around the concept of ownership of content. But I have to say I don't see it that way.

"I think we saw a lightning rod for feeling that has been bubbling up – that doesn't just apply to games, but to entertainment overall. I think there's an increasing nervousness about what ownership of content means. In the absence of physical goods. When that nervourness was starting to migrate into control over physical goods that consumers have purchased, that was a bridge too far.

"I want to be very clear about where we have been on this issue: I think there's a danger we could be seen to have reacted and capitalised on a situation. When we first announced PS4 in February, people were saying, 'Oh, Sony's being coy' – almost with some implicit suspicion.

"It struck us as very odd. We had no intention of changing our position – it hasn't changed from what it's been for the last fifteen years. We believe that if you buy it, you own it, you're able to do with it what you want."

At Sony's pre-E3 media briefing this week the company announced that there would be no change in their used game policy for PS4 which met with a tremendous response after Microsoft revealed a raft of measures to limit game lending and reselling. 

Sony will allow third party publishers to block the online component of games using something like an Online Pass but it seems many publishers – including EA who first instigated the practice – have no intention of doing so on next-gen consoles.