{"id":1626228,"date":"2026-07-06T16:58:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bNYdAhHVhmhMKexfj52ihb"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:58:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:58:19","slug":"french-left-wing-leader-jean-luc-melenchon-declares-players-have-rights-too-over-the-death-of-physical-discs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/french-left-wing-leader-jean-luc-melenchon-declares-players-have-rights-too-over-the-death-of-physical-discs-2\/","title":{"rendered":"French left-wing leader Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon declares ‘Players have rights too!’ over the death of physical discs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The latest double whammy that both Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a> and PlayStation will soon be ditching disks<\/a> and going digital has angered fans and roused old discussions of what ownership of videogames and players rights will look like in a digital future. Spoiler alert: it’s not great, that’s if Hideo Kojima’s preminitions are anything to go by<\/a>. But there are some who are willing to put up a fight. <\/p>\n

One such person is none other than La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon, who recently took to social media<\/a> to say the following: “With GTA 6 without a disc in 2026 and Sony’s announcement of the end of physical disc sales for games in 2028, the question arises of how we view these products.<\/p>\n

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Avec GTA 6 sans disque en 2026 et l’annonce de Sony de la fin des ventes de disques physiques pour les jeux en 2028, la question de savoir comment on consid\u00e8re ces produits se pose.Demain, vous paierez sans jamais rien poss\u00e9der. Ni pr\u00eat, ni revente, ni garantie de conserver ce\u2026July 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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“You will pay without ever owning anything. No loan, no resale, no guarantee of keeping what we’ve paid for. Videogames are not mere merchandise\u2014they are cultural assets, and the law in force must apply to them.” <\/p>\n

As it turns out, M\u00e9lenchon is sharing a petition to save physical videogames<\/a> in hopes of combatting a future where game ownership doesn’t actually exist. “With the end of physical games, the videogame industry wants to impose a fully digital model on us, where access will be conditional and time-limited,” he continues<\/a>. “The buyer’s rights will be denied. This is the triumph of total commodification: you pay full price for nothing more than a simple revocable right of access.” <\/p>\n

M\u00e9lenchon is right, and he’s saying what we’re all thinking. If ownership rights of digital media aren’t expanded upon then mediums such as games will suffer for it. With no control over how we preserve the games we buy and cherish, we run the risk of losing older games that serve as the foundation for our industry and all the rest that follow suit, or as M\u00e9lenchon puts it, “our cultural heritage”. <\/p>\n

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