Dev Decision DRM Free or to Steam

[futurefields]

Steam has an offline mode. You need to connect once every two weeks or something to re-verify your credentials, but you can play offline all you want.

Exactly. You have to reconnect every two weeks. And also, there are often bugs and stuff where Steam where magically forget your credentials and it doesn't work at all.

And don't give me some "derp it always works fine for me" because what I am talking about has been a confirmed bug on Steam on a number of different release versions.

So my point remains, and really, you aren't going to change my mind so there is no point replying to me trying to "correct me" or whatever, which is such a problem on this forum. Whenever I share an opinion, someone comes along and tries to "correct it" as if opinions are something to be corrected. Lol.



TLDR;

Offline game - Get your client, offer your own downloads.

Online game - Use Steam.

 

[Genx87]

The hardcore pirates will rip it apart, remove the DRM, and host it to be taken by the casual pirates.

DRM is a complete failure.

Casual pirates most likely have no idea where to get these ripped games. I am talking about people who buy a game and pass it to their friends. DRM isn't a complete failure. It is a complete failure when their goal is to stamp out piracy 100%. And in the process destroy legitimate users experience.


Steam has been a wild success. It is more or less DRM packaged in a digital delivery platform.

 

[Elixer]

Viewing Steam exclusively as DRM is ridiculous. It is first and foremost a Retail Distribution network. Secondly, it is an Auto-Updating system. Thirdly it offers many other features, like Friends lists along with a DRM system.

Personally, whenever I want a game, I go to Steam first to see if I can get it there. If I can't, I go to a BM and buy it there if available. I suppose if I had to, I would purchase from GOG or Origin, but so far I haven't.

Anything that can PREVENT you from playing games you bought is anti-consumer.
I have been going on with steam support for many, many months now to get a working offline mode.

DRM isn't required for Steam.

Nice list, just remember, you *don't* go through the steam launcher to launch said games.

On the contrary I will look everywhere else before I go to Steam. I have always favoured the less well known digital retailers, I'll even take a physical product if I can get it since it affords me better rights. Its got to be cheaper for me to accept DRM, because its an anti feature that has a cost.

Pretty much, this.
It would be nice if steam actually trusted people, instead of treating everyone like pirates to re-authenticate every X days when your in offline mode.
Mind you, steam support says "Even with this most recent update, you should be able to continue to use offline mode indefinitely." And that simply isn't true, and not enough people are reporting that offline mode is broken so they can actually fix this issue.

OP, I would say both is best, and not using Steam's DRM is a +1.
What type of game you making anyway ?

 

[JamesV]

I prefer to have all my games on Steam, even over having no-DRM versions.

There is a huge difference between traditional DRM like Securom over Steam. While Steam is DRM, it has none of the headaches, and has alot of things I love like auto updating everything, community hubs, and the workshop.

Get your game on Steam. I am what you would call a hardcore gamer, and if I didn't see about 25% of the games I own on Steam(indie), I probably would not own them.

Look at games like Kerbal Space Program; tiny community and it gets released on Steam, and has been in the top 30 sellers since it appeared... I'd bet money they would never reach 20% of those sales without Steam.

 

[Revolution 11]

OP, remember that gamers fall into one of 3 categories: Those who always pirate, those who never pirate, and those who pirate sometimes for price or convenience.

You are never going to stop the first group and they will never buy your product. The second group will always buy your product if interested. So DRM should be focused, if at all, on the third group. It should not be intrusive or difficult for legitimate customers to deal with.

The best DRM is actually a lower price, you will capture more of that 3rd group you need. You should try to get your game on Steam and GOG if possible. For indie games, Desura can also work.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

In my mind steam doesn't feel like drm. Yes it has it, but it provides so much other value, that I'm okay with the need to login.

The ease of access, and other features would lead me to buy your game on steam vs drm free download, just like I did with The Witcher 2

 

[Wardawg1001]

I'd put it on Steam and offer a completely DRM free version direct from your site if I were you. However, if you had to choose only one, I'd go with Steam. I'd hazard a guess that there are a lot more people who WONT buy a game simply because it isnt on Steam than there are people who WONT buy a game because theres no DRM free version offered.

 

[BladeVenom]

I've seen no evidence that adding DRM will make you more money. All games get pirated.

Make it DRM free, and release in as many stores as you can. I know not everyone like Steam, but they are the biggest. GOG is nice, and they don't use DRM.

 

[ThinClient]

I can't remember the last time I bought a game outside of Steam.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Viewing Steam exclusively as DRM is ridiculous. It is first and foremost a Retail Distribution network. Secondly, it is an Auto-Updating system. Thirdly it offers many other features, like Friends lists along with a DRM system.

Personally, whenever I want a game, I go to Steam first to see if I can get it there. If I can't, I go to a BM and buy it there if available. I suppose if I had to, I would purchase from GOG or Origin, but so far I haven't.

I agree with this, Steam really only counts as DRM when the game includes activation limits mandated by the publisher/developer. And THAT is something we do NOT want to see. Though I suppose people who are hurt by requirements to be online would think otherwise.

 

[Anteaus]

I've seen no evidence that adding DRM will make you more money. All games get pirated.

Make it DRM free, and release in as many stores as you can. I know not everyone like Steam, but they are the biggest. GOG is nice, and they don't use DRM.

You aren't looking very hard then. DRM via digital distribution (Steam-like services) has not only completely reversed the steep decline in PC gaming content, it has created a large demand that some have christened the new golden age of PC gaming. Developers like to have absolute control over their content, and services like Steam give them that. Sales over the past few years are statistically significant, which in turn has attracted developers who previously only produced console content to develop for PC.

On top of that, there is the surge of quality indie and mid-level develop content that has been streaming in. Games like Stardrive and Kerbal Space Program would likely have never seen the light of day if they were forced to publish via stores.

Note that I am using the term DRM in the over reaching sense, and not in the "activate your game" sort of way though there is a bit of that also. GOG does lack the intrusive DRM seen in most Steam games, but to keep things in context the vast majority of their content is very old and all of the development costs were paid long before many current gamers were out of diapers. They carry few recent titles.

I dislike DRM like the rest of you, but I can't ignore the fact that it has had a positive affect to the industry as a whole. At some point we all have to come to terms on that fact. The anti-DRM movement has lost.

Ironically, MS and Sony are trying to impliment their own versions of Steam via PSN and XBL in order to reinvent themselves in the same way. Console game piracy is still an issue, and small developers like From Software (Dark Souls) see the long term benefits of services like Steam and have shifted developent accordingly. Multiplatform games help developers, but it really fractures the hardware side in terms of unit sales.
Anyways, the numbers are there.

As to the point, yes all games get pirated to a degree. That said, if you create a platform that makes content cheaper and easier to get while at the same time making it harder for average joe to pirate then you start to get what we have today, which is an increase of game sales and quality content and a decline of prices. It doesn't have to be an either/or situation. I think DRM that requires a persistant internet connection is absymal and should be discarded permentantly, but at the same time when a company chooses a reasonable DRM solution we can't keep waging war.

My .02. Have a good week everyone.

 

[Revolution 11]

Um, the average Joe does not know how to crack games, that is the job of pirate groups. The key improvement for Steam games is cheaper and easier centralized distribution, good multiplayer and friend services, auto-patching of all games, and frequent sales, creating good value for gamers.

DRM is not the reason Steam is successful. Note that there is not a single type of DRM that has not been cracked within days of a game's release.

 

[BladeVenom]

You aren't looking very hard then. DRM via digital distribution (Steam-like services) has not only completely reversed the steep decline in PC gaming content, it has created a large demand that some have christened the new golden age of PC gaming.

Because of the convenience of digital distribution, and not because DRM has reduced piracy.

 

[JTsyo]

Get your game on STEAM. The exposure of just being on there is huge.

this. Lot more people might see your game there than if it was just out inthe wild.

 

[Anteaus]

Before Steam was the great monolith it is today, it was built on DRM aka Steamworks. Even today, many of the games sold on Steam are client driven, as in you need the client to operating, even if it's in offline mode. Yes, it was DRM that initially drew developers to Steam. I'm in complete agreement that Steam today is prodominately based on convenience and not DRM, but that wasn't always the case. In response, piracy levels have indeed dropped. I don't believe DRM did all of that, but I'm not inclined to say it didn't have a part.

I think we are arguing about semantics anyway. I think you guys misunderstand the scope of DRM as it stands today and confuse it with 5 years ago. It isn't always about keeping games from being pirated. DRM is about control, and that control does not always extend to whether a game will start or not. DRM is also about managing content and delivering PR.

Traditionally DRM was initially a stop gap to piracy, but today's developers see DRM as a mechanism for regulating DLC and advertising, thus increasing revenue. In order words, today's DRM doesn't just help prevent revenue loss it actually helps enhance profits. I'm not saying I agree with the application; I'm only stating that this is a fact.

Case in point, look at EA with Dragon Age. Forgetting whether the game was good or not, what's important is that it required a login for DLC to operate yet not for the main game. The core DRM was a simple disk check, yet requiring connectivity insured that EA regulated DLC access but also gave them a conduit to push additional content. That is proactive DRM, and that is what most developers are going for these days. In the end, they didn't mind so much that the game was copied because by requiring an account with login they knew most people wouldn't give up the included DLC, and they were right.

Steam isn't DRM in the conventional sense, but it is quasi DRM in that gamers still flow through it and for the most part use it as a hub, which in turn allows developers to have direct intervention with installed content.
Steam sells and distributes game licenses.

In the end DRM is about controlling access, and Steam does that on the macro level. Sure, not all games are protected and can be copied and played from machine to machine, but the opportunity cost involved is part of the DRM. Thinking of DRM only in terms of Securom, Starforce, and Tages is an outdated mentality. It is far broader in scope today. With today's titles, bypassing DRM can mean missing out on major components, such as with the new Simcity.

I'm going to just leave it at that because it's easy to draw the line depending on whether you believe DRM is just about preventing misuse or if you expand it to include broader controls. I'm talking about DRM application and you guys are talking about the technical aspects and I respect that.

I can understand why it wouldn't be good to give DRM any credit in the current gaming climate, because then you'd simply be telling developers that it works, however small the impact. I think the cat is out of the bag though.