If that "proprietary software" is needed to download my PURCHASED files, but it has neither access to my downloaded (!) files afterwards, nor any influence in regard to the six statements I made in my initial post - again: after download - then that "proprietary software" is NOT DRM.

I would have thought, I made myself very clear in that point.

I understood that very well, that’s why I was asking how do you call such a restriction, since you obviously do not call it "DRM".

Well I see another DRM discussion has gone off the rails due to people fighting over what the definition of DRM is rather than actually challenging stores to ensure a DRM free product..... pretty standard unfortunately.

Frankly it feels like stores don't even need to worry about complaints about DRM because they know the people who actually care will just go after each other over there definition of DRM.

EGS, unlike Steam, actually does have alternative non-proprietary clients completely independent from Epic.

Usually the biggest problem comes from the fact that far too many people not only want to call everything they don't like with game development as DRM, they actively refuse to admit that a lot of those things could be more accurately labelled as DRM-free incompatible design choices or that those can often be a lot more difficult to fix afterwards than the actual DRM, as the former often tends to be more integral part of the in-game experience than just preventing the user from having any in-game experience at all.

In another words, DRM-free should mean more than just the lack of DRM, not because some of us want to be very pedantic about what DRM means, but because what is needed to turn a game DRM-free differs a lot depending on what makes it not fit for that label and thus we should be far more specific about what we are asking rather than just resort to each time demanding that the "DRM" must be removed from it.

Yes: https://drm.dotslashplay.it/#definition

If we keep talking about "everything' is DRM then why don't we go full FOSS and only play open source games like SuperTuxKart on a Linux computer with no proprietary code and running only free open source software then? :)

Under the strictest definition of DRM then all video games that has proprietary code and not open source is DRMed... which is 99% of the games sold on GOG and other DRM-free stores. And under the strictest definition of DRM no Windows game is DRM-free because Windows is a closed source proprietary DRMed operating system with proprietary APIs like DirectX. So under the strictest definition of DRM only open source Linux games are DRM-free.

Or open source Linux games are still DRMed games too because they are digital download only with no physical copy? :)

In my case, DRM-free means nothing can deny me access to something I downloaded after a purchase, but that's just the practical side. You can have a "DRM-free" copy even of a Steam+Origin+Rockstar+EA+Denuvo+VMProtect-protected hydra, you can crack your games, but if that's just enough then we can go home and call it a day, right?

The thing that separates GOG "DRM-free" from Steam "DRM-free", then, is that the store is the one guaranteeing that you don't have to worry about your access being denied.

- GOG sells you offline installers which you can download from any browser of your choice after a simple hurdle of logging in, and then they don't dictate what you do with those installers, or with the games, they can't kill those installers after the fact by any means. All these are how they fulfill their promise of DRM-free games, which they advertise prominently everywhere. The games are legally considered licenses but hey, the installers you get to keep.

- The only way to properly download and install a Steam game is through Steam itself, and if Valve doesn't update the one or two "DRM-free" games you have on there to become DRM'd, the dev has the power to do so and you can cry a river about it - because you weren't sold "DRM-free games" and you agreed to the Steam Subscriber Agreement and all your games are just revokable licenses. In fact, you know the game doesn't require Steam to launch or be installed because you tested it yourself, or someone else tested it and submitted that to a list online - it wasn't advertised or promised!

It is then funny, that it works like that. In both instances, you can zip up the files and they're technically yours - they're technically DRM-free in both cases, but, GOG (or itch, or Zoom Platform) offers an environment friendly to the concept, while Steam/Epic/whatever is hostile to it because the product they're selling you is their platform, not the games. If they advertise that 2% of their library that is DRM-free, they're telling people to download them and then uninstall their bloatware launchers if they want. Their biz relies entirely on them staying on your computer, you staying in their garden, and ironically, GOG and co. sell you the idea of giving you the game and getting out of your life.


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tl;dr - steam drmfree is spineless, gog drmfree is how to pull it off

I like to refer to DRM-free as the customer having a theoretical anonymity at every step. At least what could be considered reasonable or equivalent to a face-to-face purchase - stepping into a shop, paying with cash, bidding those there farewell to enjoy my purchase on my own terms, for the right to use it belongs to me now, never to be seen again. It's much too late for this account, it's already completely compromised. But within reason GOG offers me the ability to swoop in as an unknown and pay through an e-wallet like Skrill. They would know my country of origin based on my IP address, but I could hide this also if I wished, and GOG would not judge me. What would be the use of everything being offline, if at the moment of payment, download, or update I am pinging my exact location due to the association between my IP address and address provided with my payment method.
This is sufficient enough, I'm no criminal after all and I don't need to be a complete ghost, I just don't need my information blasted around everywhere should a leak occur, to the joy of advertising companies and miscreants, or for the seller to use at their discretion. I ask only for peace.

DRM-Free is not just one type or category as some here seem to think.

Like most things in life there are variants and degrees. Only the pedantic think otherwise.

So we have DRM-Free, with no DRM at all.

Then we have DRM-Free, where only the single player aspect is DRM-Free, the MP aspect sadly not.

Then we have the variant known as DRM-Free Lite, which at the very least requires backing up a game folder, and possibly doing something else usually simple and legal.

They have commonality, in that all those games can be played when and where you like, without your digital rights being managed by anyone other than yourself.

What you use to gain access to those games in the first place, is really neither here or there, because they all require verification that you own the game before you can download.

Yes, the GOG variant, with or without Galaxy, means you download a ready-made installer ... talking Offline Installers.

When it comes to Steam and Epic etc, you get a game folder, which most of the time you can just back up, and if smart ZIP, to reduce storage size, and if you make self-extracting, your own variant of an installer ... referring of course to the DRM-Free Lite variants..

Steam gives you two ways to get your game - (1) GUI or (2) CLI client. The CLI called SteamCMD has benefits over the Steam Client GUI version, in that it is much quicker and allows you to choose per game, where to install it. Quicker in that it updates itself quicker than GUI version. Also much lower on system resources.

For Epic, you get a somewhat similar situation if you use the third party CLI program Legendary or the Epic GUI client.

One can argue until they are blue in the face, about the specifics of what really constitutes DRM-Free, but for me it is all about the level of control I have over a game ... that's the thing that is the most important, at least to me.

The next most important aspect, would be how much trouble I am willing to go to when it comes to DRM-Free Lite.

And of course, DRM-Free Lite isn't guaranteed, so it can be about taking a gamble as well. Naturally, once you've backed up your game and certified it is indeed DRM-Free, then you are laughing I guess.