Anyone else frustrated by how many great new releases are not available DRM-free?

The last game I purchased on Steam was more than a year ago. I intend to keep it that way. I "own" on Steam most video games that I want to play, but which are not likely to get a DRM-free release in the foreseeable future.

However, there have been quite a few newer release that I would like to play, but are only on Steam and doesn't seem like they are coming to GOG. In order of how important they are to me:

1. Uncharted 4 PC version (accounced, though not yet released). I am playing Uncharted 2 on PS3 right now, and having a good time. I would like to get it on GOG, but I assume it will be a Steam only release.
2. Elden Ring
3. God of War.

I would pay for all these games, but unfortunately, it seems like we are only getting them on Steam. The game by Sony that I think I would be the least interested in, that is Horizon: Zero Dawn, is the only one on GOG.

I feel frustrated, because I want to play these games, but I am not paying so much money for DRM'ed versions. Anyone else in a similar situation?

Wish they would just release them on GOG.

I know the feeling. Big reason why my Steam (and other DRM'd) purchases have dropped to 1 or less titles per year, over the last 6 years.

My approach so far has been to treat releases on Steam as very low priority, and if there is a different DRM-free title I equally want, go for that one instead.
But the rare times there's something I ~really~ want and it's only on Steam/DRM'd... hold out until a deep sale. In the past, I'd even purchase from Humble and tank the amount the devs would get from my purchases. :P

I also (and I'm not sure if this is against TOS or not - feel free to delete this part if it is, mods) look for ways to de-DRM my purchases, so I can back them up and play them offline. Game archival is important to me. I don't like this method though, feels wrong... but then thinking about how *my* purchases aren't actually mine, and I'm forced to jump through arbitrary DRM hoops to get to the content I paid for? That feels even more wrong.

I'm not saying to do as I do, there are varying shades to this - you don't have to be all-or-nothing about it.

And if you really want to do something to help, play the DRM-free activist role a little. :D Send a polite message to the devs/publishers asking for them to release on GOG. Sometimes it works out, especially when enough people do it and they realise there's a market share!

No, because I'm well aware that's just the way it was, is, and for the foreseeable future likely will be.
Having realised that a long time ago, I'm fine with waiting for however long it takes for these games to be released on GoG eventually. Not like there isn't always something else to pick from the ever-growing backlog to pass the time inbetween.

Frustrated? No... I'm used to it by now.

Actually I'm still waiting for a miracle to happen and Ghost of Tsushima to somehow land here :P. I think I'm still in for a long wait though.

So y is very unlikely to release anything more on GOG. The cyberjunk debacle proved how bad CDPr are and Sony dropped it completely from their store. I doubt they would want any further association. If you want to play those games, best play on ps3/4/5. I know it’s not ideal, the PS4 only outputs hd so it’s annoying on an ultra wide monitor, but if you buy the discs then there is just the disc check. And the ps3 emulator has come on a long way.

I'm slightly annoyed, but it's only a handful of games. I have a large backlog that I should play through before I consider spending money on DRMed games.

I'm more annoyed by how many older releases are still not available DRM-free. There is a ton of games I'd jump at instantly if they appeared here.

Newer releases would be fine I guess, but those that'd interest me are few and far between. The last 2 I can think of were Serious Sam 4 and Darksiders Genesis.

I already had a Steam account before becoming aware of GOG and using as it as hub for classics. I'm not fond of the state of triple A games, so avoiding using any other stores with crappy launchers has been possible for me.

Recent games not showing up here doesn't bother me much. What's frustrating to me is the low likelihood of these showing up even 5-10 years from now. ^.

I don't play many games currently, but I may just have to go back to Steam for the ones that do interest me.

Not really. I don't have the time/energy to look at the gaming landscape and at my age, the peer-pressure to play games my friends are playing is very low.

I also tend to like indie games best. So GOG releases are the span of the gaming industry for me (and there are a lot of indie releases so I'm happy). I only get frustrated when releases here have some form of drm (at that point, I struggle with the dilemma you described where an interesting game has entered my radar, but I can't play it).

Game stores non-withstanding, a lot of games, especially AAA ones, have jumped the drm bandwagon and require their internally maintained servers for various features (AAA games certainly have the resources to do things like that and their own Galaxy platform non-withstanding, I think a lot of the pressure GOG has to publish drmed games in its store comes from this) so if AAA games are your thing and you have strong anti-drm stances, then yeah that could be frustrating.

Steam got the ball rolling, but now the entire industry (especially for the larger players) has gathered momentum on its own to go in that direction and I think it might remain so for some time unfortunately.

Terribly disappointed! I really do love the newer games and bought a 3080 just to be able to play them. I was excited for a bit that GoG was getting some new AAA releases, but that seemed really short lived. I think I bought Control when it was released, Cyberpunk, and Horizon Zero YAWN. Been getting the newer releases from Epic such as GoW, Guardians of the Galaxy, Final Fantasy, etc. I wish more companies opted for DRM-Free, but it's a sign of the times I suppose.

Hopefully, we can see some of these releases at some point in the future, but I have my doubts. Either way, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Totally agree.

YES and NO.

Ideologically I am opposed to DRM anything, but for as long as I can remember DRM has mostly been the way of the world and just keeps getting worse and more. So DRM is in most cases just business as usual, and GOG and a small handful of others are the few exceptions.

I used to chase up NO CD patches for discs I bought, but eventually got fed up with doing that, so gave up on PC games completely for a while in 2009. Then I rediscovered GOG in 2017, when I was able to take advantage of them, and now with very few exceptions just buy games from them.

As far as I am concerned, if a game has DRM, then generally the DEV and or PUB doesn't want my business, and 99% of the time I am happy to comply and ignore their existence. Their loss and I refuse to see it as mine.

My approach is not to look at new game releases, except at GOG ... and even then price often determines whether the game even makes it to my Wishlist yet. If you don't see, you don't have to fight desire.

That might seem like a big limiting factor, but to be honest, I have a huge backlog to work through anyway, not helped by the many free games in the Year Of COVID and the great bundles Itch.io keep putting out. Then there is all the regular freebies at Epic and IndieGala and some others.

In short, I'm not short on great games to play. As it is I will die before I get around to playing just all my GOG purchases. I feel rich in games, and so I buy on my terms.

And I'm not one of those that has to play the latest and greatest. And many of the truly great are from years past, and in a good number of cases are available at GOG or have been.

My situation is different because I'm not paying for those DRM'ed games at all, ever, even if they are offerered for cheap low amounts of money.

But yes, this is a major downside of GOG, and always will be, and that is very frustrating. GOG has very slim pickings when it comes to non-ancient games.

If you want things to change you have to make a stand and learn to do without until developers release DRM free versions.
Things will not change if you break down and buy DRM from Steam and other places.

I'm not as broken up by big AAA games releasing with DRM on day one (although I understand those who are). Usually I figure I can wait on those, but...

... when I see AA's and indies releasing with DRM on Steam (not GOG) I get a bit deflated (Ultimate Admiral Age of Sail or War on the Sea). And then...

... years after release...

... when a AA or indie game goes on sale on Steam for $3 and still isn't on GOG (ie Call to Arms, Steve Jackson's Sorcery games, etc)...

... I get a bit depressed (maybe slight hyperbole. i'm not unable to enjoy life. ;)).

I would always prefer DRM-free product via GOG, but when a game on Steam goes under $5, I seriously have to weigh if it's worth waiting for a GOG release that may never happen... and with GOG's track record (even among indies who have released prior games here) sadly it seems a pretty safe bet against them showing up here.

Will we ever see Men of War Assault Squad 2? *sigh*