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nanoUFO@sh.itjust.works

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Steam keeps on winning (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 11 months ago by nanoUFO@sh.itjust.works to c/games@sh.itjust.works

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Yup, but you know you're getting DRM-free with GOG, and there's value to that.

But many games still use Steam DRM even if they remove their other DRM, meaning you need the Steam client to be running for the game to run. And it's relatively common for games available on GOG to have Steam DRM on Steam.

That said, it's not really something I worry about. Steam provides enough value to me personally that I'm okay with not every game being completely DRM-free. But if all things were otherwise equal, I'd opt for GOG.

[–] 520@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Steam DRM is easily bypassed. Look up hacked steam DLLs

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Okay, but:

that can change at any time if Valve bothers to patch it
it's technically piracy
it takes effort the average person isn't going to do

DRM-free avoids that, hence why GOG has value.

[–] 520@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

that can change at any time if Valve bothers to patch it

Sure. And DRM free can become DRM laden with a patch too

it’s technically piracy

No it's not. It doesn't even legally count as copyright infringement. You are legally allowed to crack your own legit copy of software. The only thing possibly in the way is the EULA of the software (almost all of them have a possibly-illegal no reverse engineering clause)

it takes effort the average person isn’t going to do

The average person isn't going to be backing up their games in the first place.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

DRM free can become DRM laden with a patch

Only if you download the update for that game.

The patch to the Steam DLL could impact every game, and it still requires the user to patch the binary. Steam updating the binary to patch out the fix has a much bigger impact than a game adding DRM later.

You are legally allowed to crack your own copy

I'm pretty sure you're not, though there's potential for some gray area. Here's 17 U.S. Code § 1201, (a) (1) (A):

No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

And yes, the average person does "back up" their games by having a copy of the installer in a Downloads directory or maybe a separate drive. They're probably not going to use a NAS or cloud service, but that's probably still more likely than applying a patch to a binary.