Publishers would just pay the extra fee and pass the cost to us. They care about controlling the data than they do about actual sales. You know.. capitalism.
Fair point. Let the giants pay the tax to treat us like criminals while indies get to market themselves. It just makes it easier to decide who to support and who to pirate.
DRM, digital locks, hardware locking fuses etc. should be illegal. If I buy a car I can change the lights, swap out the engine, do whatever I want with it, it's mine, I own it. Why shouldn't I be able to do the same with my phone or game? Why should some company have the right to tell me what I can and can't do with my own property that I payed for? That's not DRM (digital rights management) because they have no right to manage my property, it's OSM (ownership subversion mechanism) and that's what we should call all that anti consumer bullshit.
If I buy a car I can change the lights, swap out the engine, do whatever I want with it, it's mine, I own it.
I'd argue that modern cars behave very similar to DRM-protected games.
It's not similar, it's the exact same crap. Yeah you can change the tires of your choice, as well as the cover for your phone or the sleeve for your laptop, but that's about as far as you can go with your 'new' car nowadays.
you can change the tires of your choice
Not if they have integrated pressure sensors.
I'm confused, honestly. How can TPMS force you to brand or models of tires? Honest question, I had no idea that was even possible. Can TPMS also know the type of rim? Now I'm concerned.
It's already up to the developer whether or not they use Steam's DRM. And fucktons of games from small devs already don't use it.
Yes. You can even copy the installed files and just launch the executable on another machine that doesn't even have Steam installed.
That's the thing. The vast majority of people are happy to support game devs and the steam service. That's probably why this is not an issue causing vast losses.
I'm not sure the majority of games is DRM free though. But youve got a point.
How do you play games without launching steam? Can you give me a quick step by step instructions in this matter?
So long as the game is DRM-free, you just go to the install location and run the exe file.
not really? you need goldberg emu or another steam emulator, otherwise games will get confused that they can't communicate with a steam client for achievements and whatnot
but yeah it's just about dropping 2 files besides the game exe and done
You need to turn off the overlay. The games not confused it's the fact your trying to use steam with out it being there and the dll that calls for it can't find it.
Delete the dll or slap a txt files in the root folder with the appid and dll will see that and disengage.
Most people just delete the dll since you arnt using it anyways and it's wasted memory
if the game uses steam DRM, steam emulators cant do anything with that. you additionally need a separate tool that strips the steam DRM
see here: https://gitlab.com/Mr_Goldberg/goldberg_emulator/blob/master/README.md
(Assuming the games have no DRM and use Steam for online).
but indeed, it seems not all games need it:
If you are a game developper and made the mistake of depending too much on the steam api and want to release of version of your game without it and don't want to rewrite your game, this is for you.
But, for some reason, many then choose denouvo instead...
All steam games are drm free by default. They literally have been since day 1. Even the half life games are drm free... Literally always have been.
I'm getting real fucking tired of people not understanding the fuck steam drm actually is.
It's optional and ENTIRELY up to the dev to use.
Steam games come bundled with a SINGLE dll that hooks into steam for the overlay, cloud storage and other steam features. But this dll is NOT required and can safely be deleted. Steam ALSO supported turned the dll off via a single txt file.
Both cause the game to be simply launched from its normal exe and they never have a check in.
I have over 300 games iv bought from steam that sit on a hard drive and can be launched with out steam ever having been installed on a computer.
Steam first and foremost is just a patcher and download manager. If you don't need to update your game then you can just slap it in a. Thumb drive and take it with you.
The only reason you NEED steam actively running. Is for steam functions, such as online play for some games that use steam servers and not there own. Games that optionally have chosen to enable the drm function. Or to update your game.
That's it.
Valve's better than Epic Games, but they still have every incentive to keep users in their ecosystem with DRM. Thats why Proton on the Steam Deck only works with Steam running in the background.
Valve's better than Epic Games, but they still have every incentive to keep users in their ecosystem with DRM.
Very true.
Thats why Proton on the Steam Deck only works with Steam running in the background.
Lmao what? You have proof for this? It's just as likely that it was easier to do it the way they did.
Not true about Proton. It's Steam DRM that requires Steam running in the bg, same as on Windows.
Wine can be set up in a similar way, but Valve's default setup is designed to for use with Steam first and foremost.
A bigger issue is that the Steam Deck touchpads don't work without Steam being open. A more open approach would have been to write independent driver software for the touchpads.
Valve's far and away better than Nintendo, but has still designed the Steam Deck to be heavily reliant upon Steam to function. The Steam Deck is priced in a way that anticipates increased consumer usage of Steam, but in isolation of Steam, it would be more usable as a Linux PC if it were more software-agnostic.
A bigger issue is that the Steam Deck touchpads don't work without Steam being open
This is interesting, because the touchpads on the Steam Controller do work without Steam being open, at least on Linux, though without cursor acceleration. I wonder why the touchpads on the Deck were handled differently.
Meanwhile I play all my GOG games on my SteamDeck. Sure it runs SteamOS and Steam in a sort of Big Picture Mode, but it's still just a Linux PC, you're free to use whatever software on there in Desktop mode, and then you can add all the apps and games you want to the Steam launcher, and run them that way. You're not forced to stay in Steam, nor are you forced to only buy games from Steam. You can exit Steam on the Desktop mode and still use Proton to play Windows games, but that leaves you with more overhead running than when you do it from Steam in the big picture mode.
Encouraging is one thing, and of course any business wants to encourage their consumers to, we'll, consume from them. However, that is not what Epic does, or Buggysoft, or any of the other giants. They FORCE their consumers into a whole lot of crap to FORCE money out of them. Encouraging and forcing are 2 completely different terms.
Valve is definitely the best and the most innovative, particularly in contrast to Epic's attempt to bribe their way to success and intentionally ignoring Linux, but even the best have their faults.
Valve literally doesn't use drm. ITS FUCKING OPTIONAL AND ITS THE DEV CHOICE TO USE IT. VALVE DOES NOT
I REPEAT
DOES NOT REQUIRE DRM FOR ANY OF THEIR GAMES OR ANYONE ELSES GAMES IN THEIR PLATFORM
IT IS DEVELOPERS CHOICE
Still waiting for the day Steam bites the bullet and just publish titles DRM free by default
They already do. Steam DRM is explicitly opt-in and the Steamdwork documentation even underlines that Steam DRM is a very weak form of DRM. Denuvo isn't by Valve/Steam and also opt-in.
Steam DRM can be bypassed without even modifying the game files (using open-source software no less), it is not the boogeyman people say it is. If the internet broke, or Steam was gone you could still easily play these games, and software like Goldberg would be well accepted by people.
What we need is an alternative store where opensource games can make money. That would change the business.
How so? I'd expect getting people willing to publish their games there, regardless of the payment system, to be the problem.
Does this mean the "PLEASE ADD TURKISH LANGUAGE 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷" spam all over the community hubs will stop?
I hope.
Can't they fucking learn a language ffs?..
Don’t be confident in the idea that VPNs will escape regulatory notice. The open web as we know it is rapidly being maimed.
No wonder EU has froze their membership application. They backslid into autocracy.
We are sliding as well. And we are the EU.
I bet steam will create a "Steam (Turkey)" as a child company to deal with this.
Guessing it would end up being like this

I don't think thats a unfair ask. One local representative in each country seems perfectly fair for me.
Being said? the user information part? strictly locked to their own content. If the user account is registered in that country they have access. Providers could 100% do that with most operational databases out there. It's a requirement for stores in order to do payment information. Steam and Epic already do this as it is.
Should they be able to access that information in the first place is a different discussion, that needs to be had in that corresponding country, but if the country has already decided it needs access to continue, there's no reason it should have access to all user data. The only thing they really have claim to is their own countries data.
The issue is not the rep, it's the vague "content oversight." If the goverments can ban anything they deem "risky" that's censorship not regulation. That's exactly why piracy will explode. Let the game begin..
Fully agree. if they actually go through with banning it, piracy will thrive. People aren't going to just not play games as a result of not having access to a game. Smaller launchers will rise, people will download from other sources. A method of obtainment will be found.
Countries do this way more often than you think... they have always done that with movies preventing official releases or releasing edited versions, and as for games tons have localized versions since ever, from censorship of nudity in Japanese games in the USA market to censorship of Nazi flags in games in Germany and even LGBT references in tons of Eastern countries. I'd love if piracy exploded because fuck them billion dollar companies, but they usually just change a few art assets and that's it.
What type of content you fear your government may consider risky? Is someone there in a paranoia of video games causing violence?
Unless they would be banning stuff like GTA, Call of Duty and Battlefield entirely because of violence, I really doubt gamers would go out of their way in enough numbers to cause any ruckus just because they absolutely have to play the version of the game that has an LGBT flag in some building or certain character is transgender.
turkiye already has been targeting dissent for a while, this is a next step.
That's a very common and very reasonable request, and given the size of Turkey, I don't think they'd prefer to lose the whole market there instead of having a lawyer in the country to deal with local legal requests.
Only when it's companies run by manchildren, like X and Rumble, they go on the internet to cry about censorship and shit when they pikachu-face-discover they have to follow a country's laws to operate in that country.
ps: You are already not buying games when you pay for them on Steam.
Im pretty sure their happy to loose turkey. For years keystores have abused the worthless lira to buy cheap steam games and resell them for a massive markup and steam doesn’t get any cut and miss out on a more lucrative sale
Because of that they switched to USD one or two years ago, which made it impossible to afford games for a lot of people.
ps: You are already not buying games when you pay for them on Steam.
True, use GOG.
You also arnt buying games when you pay for them on steam...
Both steam and gog are drm free.
Both have the EXACT same licences for their drm free games.
Gog even has their galaxy API wall just the same as valve as the steam works one locking you to an account.
And both are optional.
Steam DRM and GOG DRM are also optional so if it exists it's developer choice. Cause GOG does actually sell games with fucking drm and have for years. They arnt ONLY drm free they stopped being 100% strict about that a while ago.
Literally they are identical. Really the only difference is you need steam client or steam cmd to down load a game both require a steam login. Or you go to gog website or their client both of which require a gog login...
It's the same shit.
Steam just also has triple A games with third party drm too that isn't optional. Which makes up like 1% of the games on steam at this point.
OK, sure. If Valve bans you, how are you going to install your games?
I know that on GOG I can download the installer, back it up, share it with friends and family, and they can install it. Do the same with Steam.
And finally, Valve is a USAian company. GOG is European. That is pretty important.
To people downvoting: are you also mad that Valve/Epic/PSN/etc has to follow GDPR data regulations for EU citizens and keep representatives there, or is sovereignty only bad when a non–first-world country dares to claim it?