GOG have gone on the offensive with their new 'FCK DRM' initiative

Hm. Not that they're wrong, but this has a strong touch of self-promotion. The "list" of options is a bit sparse, and it doesn't look like they have actually looked into finding more options before launching this page. For example, you can buy DRM free ebooks with ease. At least in Germany, the big online stores do have books without DRM.

I don't mind that they omitted Steam from the list, because you can't see which game doesn't have DRM on Steam in the store page. But that they didn't include Humble Bundle really makes it look like they want to act as if they are the only ones selling DRM free games online.

Everybody knows about Humble Bundle. Don't act like you didn't know, GOG.

Or does that mean that only shops are accepted that are 100% DRM free? If that is true, I demand a shop where you can't buy Windows games.

Only 100% DRMFREE download stores are valid for to be listed on FCKDRM... Humble Bundle is just an Steam key reseller with some DRMFREE games.

Only 100% DRMFREE download stores are valid for to be listed on FCKDRM... Humble Bundle is just an Steam key reseller with some DRMFREE games.

Just a tiny correction: You can download all DRM-free games via the Humble Bundle web page. You get an additional Steam key, but you don't need to use it. Of course, that doesn't mean that every single game on HumbleBundle is DRM free.

Question: Are there games on GOG with a multiplayer component that either relies on a third party account or a proprietary master server? If not, that would be really cool and in line with the aspect of "digital preservation".

I remember pretty well when I was without internet for 15 days and then, I was able to play many games of my Steam library by just telling Steam to go in offline mode.
This is just going to the other extreme(the hate towards developers right to protect their stuff with a minimal DRM) and I don't see what is the problem on DRM as there's an option to play offline.
Despite Denuvo being too harmful that didn't stop Monster Hunter World, to sell 300k copies in two days on Steam and I cant see how attacking every DRM system out there even those who aren't that bad are going to help the cause.
This only suits to Steam haters while makes no harm to Denuvo.
Another reason for me to stay away from GOG, this hipster hate is just annoying.

Question: Are there games on GOG with a multiplayer component that either relies on a third party account or a proprietary master server? If not, that would be really cool and in line with the aspect of "digital preservation".

There is this list. I don't know how accurate it is. https://www.gog.com/mix/games_with_multiplayer_drm

There is this list. I don't know how accurate it is. https://www.gog.com/mix/games_with_multiplayer_drm

Thanks for that. I just took a quick look, and at least BATTLETECH is missing from that list. It would be interesting to know what their stance on MP-DRM is.

Also, DRM-freedom generally aligns with the free open source ideals of Linux, so people who care enough about freedom to use Linux will tend to care enough about DRMs to not want them on their games.

Exactly.

It is easy to forget that GOG is a much smaller company than Valve. Would I like them to do more Linux work? Absolutely, Yes. However, I understand that they have to do it right. Getting all complainy-pants about Galaxy is a waste of time and irrelevant to this discussion.

The Witcher 3 still stings, though. CDPR may own GOG, but I don't think GOG can push that hard on CDPR to do ports.

I don`t trust them.
I AFAIK the witcher 2 and 3 where Denuvo tempered.

Cyberpunk will surely not be DRM free in the first weeks.

I can`t remember that CDPR does something for Linux since the one port of Witcher 2.

So no Bucks from me. (Except old games for less then 5€ to try them on wine - maybe there is no need for this anymore because of Proton)

I don`t trust them.
I AFAIK the witcher 2 and 3 where Denuvo tempered.

Cyberpunk will surely not be DRM free in the first weeks.

I can`t remember that CDPR does something for Linux since the one port of Witcher 2.

So no Bucks from me. (Except old games for less then 5€ to try them on wine - maybe there is no need for this anymore because of Proton)

The official version is that the Witcher 3 CD release had DRM which got cracked while the online(aka. through GOG) release didn't. And I think both happened simultaneously

Btw quote from fckdrm.com

Support digital preservation

By choosing the right sources, you know that the content you bought will remain with you – no matter when it was created or for what hardware.

Can someone can tell me why then GOG is on list?

As hard as i loking at my Neverwinter Night Diamond they still only have Win download, after linux version
got out some time age for silly excuse its still dont back

The point is that you can still play your local copy (as well as copy it to new devices) even if the game goes "out of print" or is otherwise no longer supported.

The official version is that the Witcher 3 CD release had DRM which got cracked while the online(aka. through GOG) release didn't. And I think both happened simultaneously

I took a quick look at this and it seems like the Witcher 3 disc version was sold before the game was officially released. You had to download a small patch to make the game work. If this server ceases to exist, the discs are becoming useless on their own. Though, you can backup the patch and put it along with the original discs. It's suboptimal, but I think it's kinda OK. They wanted to sell physical pre-orders, and this was their way of doing it.

The official version is that the Witcher 3 CD release had DRM which got cracked while the online(aka. through GOG) release didn't. And I think both happened simultaneously

I took a quick look at this and it seems like the Witcher 3 disc version was sold before the game was officially released. You had to download a small patch to make the game work. If this server ceases to exist, the discs are becoming useless on their own. Though, you can backup the patch and put it along with the original discs. It's suboptimal, but I think it's kinda OK. They wanted to sell physical pre-orders, and this was their way of doing it.

I can confirm, at the time I bought the Boxed edition. I still have this patch on my HDD, around 300 Mo.
But I didn't look around how to install it in 2018 if this patch is missing.
Is it still available online officially? I don't know.
But the good point is that GOG gave you a GOG key for download the entire game, it's like having it two times.

They preaching about DRM-free while at the same time forcing Galaxy towards everyone's throats.

I fail to see what your point here is.

They're not, and it's not required for their games at all - it also functions as a handy download manager for your DRM free library.

Galaxy isn't DRM, you don't need it to play GOG games.

Remember when Stardew Valley's multiplayer was locked behind Galaxy, and Linux users couldn't play it at all? Remember when they finally made the MP files available for download outside of Galaxy, and it was an old version with a crippling bug that meant you could only play via LAN?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.


Last edited by Trinexx on 23 August 2018 at 12:26 am UTC

I AFAIK the witcher 2 and 3 where Denuvo tempered.

Cyberpunk will surely not be DRM free in the first weeks.

That's quite false since GOG doesn't accept games with Denuvo.

In light of the recent Proton/WINE news from Valve, there is a slight hint of sour grapes from GOG with this post. Or at least, it is a bit of a coincidence the order that these news items came out.

Meanwhile, it is probably worth stating my position - I am not a fan of DRM, and I would be very happy if more games were DRM-free. When I decide to buy a game, having a DRM-free download helps me to go ahead with the purchase. I feel that DRM is detrimental to me as a consumer, and tends to stop me using a product how I'd like. If I buy a game, I'd prefer if it didn't need to be constantly online, and prevent me from keeping a working backup, etc. I like the idea of playing a game product I own without it being tied to a client application in order to play it.

Saying that I don't feel that Steam client itself is especially a DRM issue. You can download games from Steam without the client (i.e. using SteamCmd) and if the game developer put a DRM-free copy of the game on Steam, then you can play it without Steam. It comes down to Valve is not enforcing DRM on their client, it is the game publisher who enforces it. Also, Steam client's offline mode does help alleviate DRM issues with some games.

Getting back to GOG - I have bought numerous games on GOG and happy to have DRM-free downloads. Until Valve's recent Proton announcement, I was very much favouring purchase of any DRM-free Windows games on GOG (over Steam). My reason - Because if I was going to play a Windows game in my own WINE-tweaked compatibility layer, I wouldn't want a Steam client running on WINE as well. However, now that Proton is coming out... well... It makes running Windows games on Linux a lot easier. Also, the fact that playing these Windows games on Proton registers as a Linux usage also rings well with me.

Saying all the above, I'll still buy more DRM-free games on GOG (but probably less than before) and I'm absolutely going to favour Linux native ports over Windows games that I might purchase to play using Proton. But, things have moved more in Steam's direction for me now.


Last edited by g000h on 23 August 2018 at 2:01 am UTC

I cam only support them in their efforts, because DRM may look "fine" until you RAM your face in it and then it feels like stone wall of ignorance to customers.

Thats my story - just some time ago i needed some ebooks of specific matter which i, unexpectedly, found to be sold in Google Play. I haven't read carefully, gone, purchased my stuff and...WTF, instead of simply downloading my epubs and pdfs i got strange file which i was supposed to open in Adobe Collections app or something.
And that is most funny is this app is absolutely dont work on Linux - its not supported officially, its not working in wine too and in the end you have to also either create account on Adobe to ever access your stuff, at least WHILE both adobe and ebook seller supports this scheme or download books in way that they will be open-able only locally.

I was so freaking pissed off. Oh yes, you can use Google's android app to view book too, but it kinda sucks too.

OFC after some time i found same stuff in another store, reasonably priced and drm-free and got it here. NEVER EVER going to purchase books on Google Play (albeit i do rent movies sometimes here, usually on promo deals).

And MOST awful thing that there was times when Google play had no DRM for ebooks or it was optional, but at some moment they went hardcore and made it mandatory for all past and future purchases.

One more case is Google press service - at some moment they disable viewing press in non-chrome browsers "because of copy protection", so you out of luck by not using their own browser.

I cam only support them in their efforts, because DRM may look "fine" until you RAM your face in it and then it feels like stone wall of ignorance to customers.

Thats my story - just some time ago i needed some ebooks of specific matter which i, unexpectedly, found to be sold in Google Play. I haven't read carefully, gone, purchased my stuff and...WTF, instead of simply downloading my epubs and pdfs i got strange file which i was supposed to open in Adobe Collections app or something.
And that is most funny is this app is absolutely dont work on Linux - its not supported officially, its not working in wine too and in the end you have to also either create account on Adobe to ever access your stuff, at least WHILE both adobe and ebook seller supports this scheme or download books in way that they will be open-able only locally.

I was so freaking pissed off. Oh yes, you can use Google's android app to view book too, but it kinda sucks too.

OFC after some time i found same stuff in another store, reasonably priced and drm-free and got it here. NEVER EVER going to purchase books on Google Play (albeit i do rent movies sometimes here, usually on promo deals).

And MOST awful thing that there was times when Google play had no DRM for ebooks or it was optional, but at some moment they went hardcore and made it mandatory for all past and future purchases.

One more case is Google press service - at some moment they disable viewing press in non-chrome browsers "because of copy protection", so you out of luck by not using their own browser.

Adobe digital editions 2.0.1 works in wine, a windows python script (uses a windows only library, but works in wine) can extract the key, and a calibre plugin from dedrm_tools can use the key to remove drm from downloaded books, and then add it to your calibre library. I definitely prefer to buy DRM-free, but the plugin makes it bearable. Search for apprenticeharper/DeDRM_tools on github.

It is sad when DRM means you have to remove it, before you can use a product you paid for.

*EDIT: It is possible I am wrong about which version of digital editions that works. I double checked, and I cannot find it installed in any of the likely wine bottles on my computer. I know I have managed to install and run one of the older versions though.


Last edited by Ketil on 23 August 2018 at 9:12 am UTC

Too bad they also seem to have a "FCK LINUX" initiative. When is the Linux version of GoG Galaxy supposed to be released again?

windows python script (uses a windows only library, but works in wine) can extract the key, and a calibre plugin from dedrm_tools can use the key to remove drm from downloaded books, and then add it to your calibre library.

Yes, i tried it (in VirtualBox) but thing is that to use DeDRM you need to use OLD ADE with OLD encryption scheme. And not all sellers allows of use of that old scheme, Google seems to forbid it, so Old ADE just refused to download anything.

Fortunately i didnt purchased a lot in bulk on first purchase, so it was easier to say "Fck it" and purchase 100% non-drm version elsewhere. Yes, its little lazy, but i needed those books anyway.

Interesting thing is that it seem seller i used to get DRM-fee version is same which provided content for these titles on Google Play in first place, but in their store they have DRM on very few titles, which means its not their choice.

Still i had enough headache with it, to be waaay more careful now.


Last edited by Kuromi on 23 August 2018 at 8:54 pm UTC