Home Gaming GOG launches FCKDRM initiative to highlight providers of DRM-free games, music, books, and video

GOG launches FCKDRM initiative to highlight providers of DRM-free games, music, books, and video

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fckdrm

DRM sucks, but it’s viewed as a necessary evil to prevent rampant piracy. It’s why we have things like Steam, uPlay and Origin. While they all act as hubs for games, they’re also DRM solutions. On top of those though, you sometimes end up with extraneous DRM on games like Denuvo, or in the past, SafeDisk and SecuROM. They’re used because publishers and rights holders believe that if things are easy to copy, people will share them with reckless abandon, cutting into their profits.

While these sorts of solutions are popular with rights holders, they’re not a big hit with consumers, especially with the looming threat that once authentication servers disappear, so does access to games. As we’ve seen with Nintendo’s lawsuits around emulation, it doesn’t spell good news for historical preservation. That’s where GOG comes in, of course. The storefront has offered DRM-free games since its inception, but they’re now taking it a step further with their FCKDRM initiative. It highlights games and media providers who eschew restrictive protections by offering DRM-free games, music, books, and video.

“DRM-free approach in games has been at the heart of GOG.COM from day one. We strongly believe that if you buy a game, it should be yours, and you can play it the way it’s convenient for you, and not how others want you to use it,” says GOG.

“The landscape has changed since 2008, and today many people don’t realize what DRM even means. And still the DRM issue in games remains – you’re never sure when and why you can be blocked from accessing them. And it’s not only games that are affected, but your favorite books, music, movies and apps as well.”

Of course, the entire point of the thing is to shill its own games store, but GOG does have a good – if slightly aggressive – point.

DRM

“Games with DRM include a layer of software or code on top of what’s needed to just play the game. Nowadays DRM will send your information to an online server, it could run checks to see if you touched any files, or outright refuse access unless you’re logged in somewhere.

In other words, DRM is there to question what you’re doing every step of the way.

Because there is a killswitch built into your games. Sure, DRM might not affect you right now, but corporations hold the key and they’ll only let you in as long as you can repeatedly prove ownership. As long as you’re connected to the internet. As long as their DRM works without fault. As long they’re still around.

So should the burden of proof be on you? Do you place your trust in someone who doesn’t trust you?”

 

Last Updated: August 23, 2018

32 Comments

  1. Kromas

    August 23, 2018 at 12:17

    Slightly aggressive. They blatantly lie in that chart and it is sad because I prefer Witcher 3 Steam DRM edition as opposed to GoG Galaxy (it ain’t DRM but without it Witcher 3 doesn’t work) Edition any day of the week.

    I see what they tried there but lying blatantly isn’t going to help the fight here.

    Reply

    • PatientToad

      August 23, 2018 at 13:08

      What exactly are they lying about?

      Reply

      • Kromas

        August 23, 2018 at 13:17

        They are clumping all DRM together. Steam for instance I can take my games anywhere. I can also play in offline mode. Only Denuvo for instance you can’t do that. And that’s just off the top of my head.

        Reply

        • Tbone187

          August 23, 2018 at 14:03

          Buddy, you don’t own your Steam titles. If they pull it, you stuffed. It aint lies. That’s their point. Everything they say is bang on the money.

          Reply

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 14:06

            No it is not. Their point I understand but they are using an underhanded route to get there. If you seriously believe that chart I have some magic beans to sell you.

          • Tbone187

            August 23, 2018 at 14:09

            Sorry mate, I see absolutely nothing invalid with what they say. Nothing.You use Steam, you play by their rules. You can invest thousands and have your account blocked and lose everything. I think you need to re-evaluate bruda! Yes, they’ll bluff folk with timed offline use and rubbish about being able to play anywhere(via log in of course) but you giving up user rights. Steam is DRM!

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 14:16

            Never said it wasn’t but my point is saying Hitler killed kittens and that is why he was evil is not the correct way of going at it. Their points are wrong but they are right in the fact that DRM is bad. But I am almost certain you will disagree with the hard facts in front of you because GoG can do no wrong. So you win … go celebrate with Apple fans.

          • Tbone187

            August 23, 2018 at 14:17

            Do you really think someone who hates Steam DRM will be an Apple fan? Wow!

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 14:20

            No I am saying someone who is so biased to the point of believing lies is pretty much an Apple Fan. Steam is not great. It has plenty flaws. that is why I use every app from every digital store including GoG galaxy.

          • Tbone187

            August 23, 2018 at 14:28

            Each to their own I suppose.I reckon you should read your terms of service with Steam before suggesting anything being said is lies tho. There are viable case studies on these claims. They aint firing from the hip guy.

          • Mark Treloar

            August 23, 2018 at 15:09

            So just a question if you remove your Steam edition from the commonapps folder and run the exe, does it work?

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 15:21

            No. But just a question is this true?

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2f4b9e14c885a5a3b678558c2069e5530cc27dad9ed8849f3e3333fe67ac814f.jpg

            Just a yes or no will suffice.

          • Mark Treloar

            August 23, 2018 at 15:41

            yes. as a test I ran it outside GOG Galaxy off a USB memory stick

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 15:43

            Well my own test with Steam and Uplay showed that both can also play games offline and a test with all other apps concluded that as long as the system can handle the game I can play it anywhere. So my findings where that those statements were a complete lie.

          • Mark Treloar

            August 23, 2018 at 15:48

            Sure, but Galaxy is optional. If you remove your games from Steam or Uplay they generally dont launch

          • BakedBagel

            August 24, 2018 at 08:15

            Tell me dude, can you run your steam games when steam is not installed?

            Ill wait.

          • Kromas

            August 24, 2018 at 09:17

            Since you did not get the point of the article and that website you will have to wait long.

          • BakedBagel

            August 24, 2018 at 10:03

            You clearly cannot understand the simple point that Steam is its own DRM.

            You can play Gog games with 0 launcher installed, with no internet.

            Its been explained atleast 5 times to you. Its not that hard to understand.

          • Kromas

            August 24, 2018 at 11:01

            Steam is DRM I agree 100%. Check my other posts. But that article snubs it’s DRMness by saying it can’t do things when it clearly can. Instead of just hating something I like to be informed and hate on something.

        • ‏‏

          August 24, 2018 at 04:19

          You are forgetting about the online check every month, so if you have no access to internet once that occurs you are pretty much out of playing all games until the check has been done.

          Reply

    • Grid10ck

      August 23, 2018 at 13:45

      What doesn’t work exactly? I’m curious because I am replaying The Witcher 3 GOTY through GoG Galaxy and have had zero issues. Cloud saves work, time tracking, achievement tracking and the overlay all work perfectly.

      Reply

      • Kromas

        August 23, 2018 at 14:07

        The DLC failed the game never updated properly and saves kept corrupting. this was a known issues that was not fixed for 3 months. Then I bought the steam version and boom everything worked. At least my Gog version had a pretty nice statue.

        Reply

        • Grid10ck

          August 23, 2018 at 14:13

          That sounds plausible, GoG was still pretty new when TW3 first released. I had one two issues myself but nothing like you’re describing. I can say the GoG client has come a long way since then.

          Reply

          • Kromas

            August 23, 2018 at 14:20

            I am sure it has but I already moved on from Witcher 3 so I have not really checked it out in a while.

  2. For the Emperor!

    August 23, 2018 at 13:03

    Always online is a great annoyance for me when it comes to single player games! For multiplayer I can understand but for solo play it is an abomination!

    Reply

  3. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    August 23, 2018 at 13:16

    Agree with them 100%. Will support.

    Reply

  4. Tbone187

    August 23, 2018 at 14:04

    I like these guys! They know what’s really happening.

    Reply

  5. Tbone187

    August 23, 2018 at 15:15

    Here’s a really good summary on DRM I feel worthwhile having a read through:

    https://blackshellmedia.com/2017/06/28/steam-employs-drm-means-game/

    Reply

  6. ‏‏

    August 24, 2018 at 04:18

    Yes FCKDRM, I never liked Steam to begin with, it is also the cause of other DRM platforms such as Origin, UPlay and GFWL popping up, I have been forced to use all these services for a few games I wanted to play, but I avoided Steam the most since it was the start of this nonsense.

    Reply

  7. Ghost In The Rift

    August 24, 2018 at 08:48

    I bought the physical copy of TW3, what i love about GOG is that i get a backup copy that i can download anytime should one of my discs gets scratched or stolen, that’s good customer service in my eyes, EA would call that “piracy”

    Reply

    • ‏‏

      August 30, 2018 at 11:25

      I stopped buying games long ago because of DRM, TW3 was an exception since I wanted to support the good guys at CD Projekt for going by the no DRM policy, although I still haven’t played it yet and still haven’t finished my playthrough of TW2.

      Reply

    • ‏‏

      August 30, 2018 at 11:25

      I stopped buying games long ago because of DRM, TW3 was an exception since I wanted to support the good guys at CD Projekt for going by the no DRM policy, although I still haven’t played it yet and still haven’t finished my playthrough of TW2.

      “EA would call that “piracy”” Now now, that isn’t true, Origin customer service were nice and helpful enough to give me free digital backup copies of EA games which I bought before Origin existed, but I don’t like DRM platforms regardless of who it’s by.

      Reply

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