Hey there, as I intend to buy the game again on GOG I have one question - as mentioned in the title.

How does GOG HZD handle data collection? The steam version collects quite a lot of data and you can only set it to "limited data collection", has this feature been removed entirely?

Thanks a lot!

The GOG version has the same feature. At first launch it askes to either share limited or full data. Further you can change this in the game as well but I don't think it's possible to disable data collection at all.

Sure you can, just go to Horizon Zero Dawn\Tools\bin\x64 and either rename or delete crashpad_handler.exe

What essentially does the data collection entail? I've read the ingame notice but what does it mean in terms of the game being fully DRM-free/full ownership of the game? Sorry if this sounds a bit stupid, I don't entirely understand it.

The data collection is for bug hunting and fixing purposes. They might also get metrics such as how many grazers you killed, or whether you got every achievement.

AFAIK they don't take any personally identifiable information. The game was ported by Virtuous and is being patched by its original developer, Guerilla.

I use limited data collection and don't notice any perceptible performance hit.

:)
-SimTeer

I wonder if its actually sending data - usually if this happens, I get the firewall asking me, whether I want to allow the games executable to access the network, but it did not happen with HZD

Ah okay, thank you!

No worries! Have a good night.

If you use windows crapo firewall, then it's really easy for programs to add their own permissions once you install them. But yes, I blocked HZD and others from the firewall. Telemetry is in everything these days, no reason not to block it.

Very disappointed!

I "own" 20 or so GOG games. DRM free all of them. Internet connection and data collection are OPTIONAL or not required for ALL of them... except Horizon Zero Dawn.

I should be able to click on a Horizon ZD shortcut or executable and play without having to login to anybody's corporate interface!

An internet connection with login to GOG Galaxy IS REQUIRED for this game. And once that is established GOG becomes a surrogate for SONY to collect data. If it walks like a DRM talks like a DRM and smells like a DRM... yeah. This definitely feels like a betrayal GOG. What's next? Perhaps technically this is a DRM free game but practically it most definitely is DRM.




This species has amused itself to death.

Wait, you have to use Galaxy to run gog version of HZD? Even with the offline installers?

If you launch HZD from the installed start menu shortcut, It'll launch the game using the galaxy client.

If you go into the actual HZD folder and launch it from the shortcut or "HorizonZeroDawn.exe" it will start without galaxy as expected.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

I'm late to the game, but if you read their Data Collection policy more clearly, they state that they grant themselves permission to also record keystrokes. It's not simply them recording crash reports and bug fixes. They're very open stating that they will be monitoring what you do on your PC (not sure what me DOING on my PC has to do with fixing bugs, but okay). The biggest problem I read was them basically installing a keylogger. They clearly highlighted the fact that they will record keystrokes (not seeing a problem here? Log into your bank account.),

Did not realize this. Just checked back to the thread. IDK if I still have it installed, but if I do, it's gone ASAP.