I was able to launch the game without the Epic Games Launcher open and the game didn't try to launch the Epic Games Launcher when launching the game from the install folder's main EXE... this is good and bad, I guess... because if they're releasing into the wild with no DRM and Annapurna has released games here on GOG before, yet nothing... could be a timed exclusive there or a forever Epic Games Store and Windows Store exclusive which would suck for GOG :(

Just throwing this info out there in case anyone wants to play it, but doesn't want a DRM-laced version... even the multiplayer worked with just launching the game by itself

And you can buy and download the game without using the launcher? If not, then the game is still locked behind DRM.

You still have to log into GOG to download your games, so... there's only a mental/technical difference between a browser being your client or a desktop app being your client

Uh-oh, there is a giant difference between an all-purpose browser (which you can choose) created by an unrelated third party and a client forced onto you by the store's owner.

Like I said... it's a mental/technical difference... still need a "piece of software" to log in and download your games... you can try and beat around the bush, but that's just a fact

Yet my statement of "the game has no DRM" is indeed factually true... you can launch the game in offline mode, without the launcher open and can even play online

...which I never denied. Anyway, seems pretty off-topic by now. Those who care about DRM won't bother with the client, those who don't, might. Just felt the first post lacked transparency, considering it's a new store, hence my first reply.

It's a big difference if said software places a unique identifier key that links said game to your machine. If transferring the game to a different machine causes the game to break it's still DRM. Cleverly well hidden DRM but DRM nonetheless.

I don't know if that's the case with this game but it's the reason I don't trust proprietary client installs to be DRM-Free.

Anyway... devs are super shady... I posted on Steam stating the same simple fact the game has no DRM that anyone can figure out by launching the game outside of the client and they banned me after 3 attempts to keep my post up

If the game isn't really DRM-Free and you advertise it as such, if such a thing we're to be discovered later the blowback could be pretty bad. Indications from CODEX and Crackwatch is that there is a weak form of DRM somehow.

If you can launch the game without the launcher active, then there's no DRM... I even copied the game to another one of my computers that's never had the Epic Launcher installed and it works just fine

Can you run multiplayer from that different computer?

Confirmed... yes... copied game folder to computer B that's never had the Epic Games Launcher installed... the game runs as expected and the main screen menu reads "Status: Online" (in green)

I dread throwing myself into yet another argument about what constitutes DRM, but I have to point out the small but important distinction here: the having to install a specific bit of proprietary software to not only download, but to install the piece of software that you actually paid for is functionally the same as DRM. Whether you want to go the full measure and actually use that term is irrelevant. If I buy a game that has a DRM-free download (whether it be a GOG-style installer, or just a compressed archive of the game folder), I can download it via whatever current browser I choose, and install it immediately, or install it at any time later, even on a different computer, as I wish. If buy a game that has a required proprietary management application, I can download and install the game now, but I have no option to download now and install later when I'm offline -- the installation is a streaming one. (Steam has a not-very-well-publicized stripped-down command line version of the client that is apparently just a downloader for the game files...but it's telling that it's still a separate software client, rather than just a feature that they built into their website.)

Making the "you need a browser to download your games, therefore browsers are DRM" argument shows more concern with not "losing" the argument than with thoroughness of thought. Put another way: you confuse literal, physical requirements (e.g., needing some kind of web browser software to access the Internet, needing some sort of DVD/media player to watch a DVD) with arbitrarily imposed "requirements" (e.g., needing a specific piece of proprietary software to be able to access or use otherwise self-contained software) at your peril.