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Steam now tells gamers up front that they're buying a license, not a game (www.engadget.com)

submitted 2 months ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca

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[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

GOG themselves literally said that you do not, even very recently. You own a license like every other customer, and it can be revoked at their discretion.

GOG choose to exclusively sell games for which they can sell DRM-free versions, which is a great option for consumers. It is not a straightforward decision however as this is, whether it is a priority or not, a tradeoff for the things that Steam integration provides - cloud backup, mod workshops, multiplayer functionality etc.

Steam also sells plenty of DRM-free games, and offer customers the informed choice when selling Steam DRM and Third-Party DRM controlled game licenses.

This is not an argument that Steam or GOG are objectively better. But it is a straightforward lie to state that the license you buy from GOG is legally different from the one you buy from Steam. What is different is the possibility or otherwise of DRM software being used to control your adherence to the license.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're like one of three people on Lemmy that understands this. I always get piled on whenever I bring it up.

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 5 points 2 months ago

It is usually also followed by "but I can download my installers and then I can have them whenever I like" as if it's a sane idea to store terabytes of offline installers for the day that GOG goes out of business.

I mean, I also have terabytes of offline installers for the day that Steam or GOG go down. On other people's computers. In a, uh, distributed distribution system.