Valve now explicitly states that you do not own the games you purchase from the Steam online store. The company added a note on the payment screen that “a purchase of a digital product grants a license to the product on Steam,” as previously reported by Engadget.
We've confirmed that the message appears in the Steam desktop app, but have not yet seen it in the mobile app. Some Steam users noticed the reveal earlier this week and posted their findings on Reddit.
There is speculation that Valve released the new message to stay ahead of the law. The law states that digital storefronts cannot say that you can “buy” or “acquire” something unless it is a license, and it must be linked to the terms of the license – which Valve apparently already has has covered.