Attention has recently been drawn to Section 21 of Sony's Terms of Service (EU/UK), which allows PlayStation accounts to be closed after 36 months of inactivity. Users get an email warning and six months to respond — but if they miss it, the account and all digital purchases are permanently lost. Sony's own terms state it plainly: account closure is irreversible.

To be fair: this policy is not new. It has existed in some form since at least 2019, and there are no confirmed cases of Sony enforcing it. This is not a fresh change to panic over.

But that's exactly the point. Whether enforced or not, it proves what we've been saying all along: you don't own your digital games — you rent them under conditions Sony can define and change. Life happens — military service, illness, financial hardship, a missed email — and years of purchases can vanish through no fault of your own. A disc on your shelf asks for nothing. It doesn't expire, doesn't need a login, and can't be deleted remotely.

With Sony ending physical disc production in 2028 and already removing 500+ purchased movies from users' libraries, this clause is yet another reason why physical media must remain an option. Digital-only means ownership on someone else's terms.

Keep sharing, keep signing. Physical games are consumer protection.

Source: Sony has ability to delete your account after 3 years inactivity.