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We're all kinda fine with DRM now
Digital Rights Management. The phrase alone, or just its abbreviation, DRM, once had the power to spark scathing editorials and spawn furious debates in online forums worldwide. In the 2000s, major PC video game publishers began adding software to their discs that limited the number of times these games could be installed, tracking and verifying players in new, conspicuous ways. Variations of this system persisted throughout the early 2010s, when Microsoft attempted to release the Xbox One with built-in DRM checks. The response from fans was so vicious that Microsoft abandoned its strategy and rebuilt the Xbox One without DRM just months before its launch date. Fast forward to February 2020. NVIDIA launched GeForce Now, the first and only cloud gaming platform to operate on a "DRM-free" basis. When you buy a game via GeForce Now, you get to keep it, regardless of whether the service itself remains live -- a promise that its competitors, Google Stadia and Microsoft's xCloud, can't make. Yet, no one seems to care.
GOG Big Fall Sale Finale: FTL, Fez, Sam And Max, Rogue Legacy
GOG.com kicked off its DRM-free Big Fall Sale Finale this morning, putting more than 700 games on sale until Tuesday, November 25. The sale is split into two 48-hour periods, the first a "recap of flash deals" that rapidly come and go, and a second period with the Big Fall Sale's daily bundles that starts on Sunday. Thrifty buyers may want to act fast, as some of the flash deals will expire within hours. The deals include Fez ($5), Rogue Legacy ($3), Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition ($2.49), Pathologic ($2), System Shock 2 ($5), Rollercoaster Tycoon: Deluxe Edition ($3), FTL: Advanced Edition ($5) and the four primary Wing Commander games are $3 each, with the first two games bundled together. Sam & Max Save the World and Beyond Time and Space are $15 each, while The Devil's Playhouse is $17.49. OG.com also has deals on bundles starting today, such as the Fedora Deluxe Pack, a five-game Tex Murphy bundle that players can download at 80 percent off ($7.16). The digital games distributor is also offering a movie bundle for $8.45 that features five films, including The King of Arcades, Pixel Poetry and Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. [Image: GOG.com]
Humble Indie Bundle 13 features Jazzpunk, OlliOlli
Comedy adventure game Jazzpunk and side-scrolling skateboarding sim OlliOlli headline the latest Humble Indie Bundle, with Shadowrun Returns available as an incentive for buyers who pay $12 or more for the package. All bundle buyers receive copies of OlliOlli, 2D exploration game Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, and twitch FPS Tower of Guns. Beat the average purchase price (currently $6.93) and you'll unlock Jazzpunk, survival horror sequel Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, and four giftable copies of the 2D action-roguelike Risk of Rain. Humble Bundle's organizers are also offering up Teleglitch: Die More Edition free of charge for Halloween. The Humble Indie Bundle 13 is up for grabs through November 11. [Video: Humble Bundle]
Humble Weekly Bundle features crazed plants, chemical bonds
The latest Humble Weekly Bundle is designed to test your squishy brain matter, offering up to seven PC puzzlers for a price that you choose. Pay $1 or more for the bundle and you'll get Steam keys for BulkyPix's typographic adventure game Type:Rider, Ovos' spacefaring puzzler Ludwig, and botany-themed breed-'em-up Crazy Plant Shop. Toss in a few dollars more to beat the average (currently $5.79) and you'll also receive Draknek's chemistry puzzler Sokobond and Three Flip Studios' language-learning game Influent. Purchases of $9 or more will additionally unlock Spotkin's Contraption Maker and Little Worlds' Counting Kingdom. The bundle will be up for grabs through October 30. [Image: FIlament Games]
Humble Indie Bundle returns with Gunpoint, Gone Home
Humble Bundle breaks away from its recent mobile focus with a new Humble Indie Bundle, offering up downloadable PC versions of SteamWorld Dig, Gunpoint, and Gone Home for a buyer-chosen price. Pay any amount for Humble Indie Bundle 12 and you'll get stealth-puzzler Gunpoint, hack-and-slash dungeon crawler Hammerwatch, and mining-themed sidescroller SteamWorld Dig. Beat the average purchase price (currently $7.38) and you'll also get Fullbright's atmospheric exploration game Gone Home, monochrome shoot-'em-up Luftrausers, and immigration inspector sim Papers, Please. Humble Indie Bundle 12 also offers an Early Access key for Prison Architect with purchases totaling $10 or more. Bundle proceeds benefit the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play Charity. [Video: Humble Bundle]
GOG.com adds movies to its lineup
DRM-free game distributor GOG.com has expanded its online catalog to include a selection of gaming documentaries, announcing that it will seek partnerships with major studios to feature additional TV and film offerings via download and streaming. Twenty gaming-themed documentaries are now collected under GOG.com's new "Movies" tab, including the world premieres of Gamer Age, The King of Arcades, and Pixel Poetry. The service currently offers two of its featured films -- Art of Playing and TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard -- free of charge of registered users. GOG.com hopes to entice major studios to join its catalog with the strength of its initial offerings, but GOG's VP for North America Guillaume Rambourg notes that getting Hollywood to embrace the service's DRM-free stance is an uphill battle. "Our initial idea was to start with the big guys, but the process is not easy," Rambourg said. "In our first round of talks, the response was largely, 'We love your ideas, but we do not want to be the first ones. We will gladly follow, but until somebody else does it first, we do not want to take the risk.' Most studio officials agreed that DRM is pointless, but were quick to add that the lawyers would not allow them to get rid of it." New DRM-free film releases will hit GOG.com weekly. [Image: GOG.com]
Steam competitor GOG is getting into the movie selling business
The generous group over at Good Old Games is prepping to bring another medium into its trademark DRM-free digital distribution platform: movies. Starting today, you can head over to GOG.com and download or stream a handful of gaming-and-geek focused documentaries. What's on tap? Art of Playing, TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard and Indie Game: The Movie (seen above) among others, and you can check out the first two flicks in this list absolutely free of charge. If none of those strike your fancy the company promises more titles will be added on a weekly basis. Don't expect to see Guardians of the Galaxy pop up on the site's digital shelves in the coming months, though.
Comixology now offers DRM-free comic backups, but only from select publishers
When Amazon purchased Comixology, it was a herald of change: iOS users lost the ability to purchase comics in-app, Android users were gifted with a new purchasing system and, now,the digital book seller is going DRM-free. Sort of. Comixology CEO David Steinberger announced today that DRM-free backups of select comics are now available to download in PDF and CBZ format, giving readers the ability to enjoy their content outside of the Comixology ecosystem for the first time. That said, it's somewhat limited: backup downloads are only available to book published by Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenoscope Entertainment, Thrillbent, Top Shelf Productions and MonkeyBrain Comics -- in other words, publishers that have already dabbled with DRM-free comic distribution.
GOG adds more than 50 Linux games, including many exclusives
DRM-free game distributor GOG.com has introduced support for Linux platforms, adding more than 50 Linux-compatible games to its online catalog. GOG's initial lineup hosts a number of exclusive Linux debuts for many featured games, including Pirates! Gold Plus, Flatout 2, and Rise of the Triad: Dark War. Today's rollout is the first stage in GOG's previously announced initiative that will bring more than 100 Linux games to the service by this fall. Other recent Linux-compatible additions to GOG's storefront include VVVVVV, Gods Will Be Watching, Kentucky Route Zero, Surgeon Simulator 2013, and SteamWorld Dig. Many classic games are currently discounted by up to 75% to commemorate GOG's Linux launch. [Image: GOG]
Celebrate freedom from DRM with Humble Bundle July 4 sale
The Humble Store is currently hosting a particularly patriotic event, dubbed the DRM Freedom Sale, to celebrate the Fourth of July. The sale features games like Broforce, Surgeon Simulator 2013 and Retro City Rampage, discounted by up to 85 percent. Not only can you feel free to use the money you'll save on some sweet explosion-rockets, but you can feel good about yourself too, as 10 percent of the proceeds go to charity. You might want to hurry though; like a red, white and blue firework in the night sky - this deal will only exist for a short while. At the time of writing, there are just more than three hours left. [Image: Humble Store]
Humble Bundle offers Summer Games Done Quick bundle
Summer Games Done Quick has just granted everyone a free pass to watch a week's worth of speedruns in the name of charity, but if livestreamed gaming isn't your thing, you can still support the cause. Donations made by Games Done Quick viewers will benefit Doctors Without Borders, but this time, the livestreaming effort has brought along a teammate: the fine folks at Humble Bundle. Until the charitable event's June 28 conclusion, The Summer Games Done Quick Bundle offers 10 games for $25, with 100 percent of its proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. The bundle includes Gunpoint, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Guacamelee! Gold Edition, among others. In the case of Guacamelee, only 25,000 copies are available for the sale, so anyone interested in brawling through an adventure as a luchador (and sometimes a rooster) should make a swift purchase. For PC users, each game can be claimed via Steam key or as a DRM-free download. Mac and Linux users should look closely at each game's dropdown menu before buying in however, since not all of them are available without DRM on all platforms, or even available on Mac and Linux in the first place. [Image: Humble Bundle]
Good Old Games' summer sale offers daily, hourly reasons to stay inside
E3 2014 mostly showed us cool games to anticipate trying out at a later date, but if you want to get excited about stuff you can play right this minute, Good Old Games has kicked off its extensive summer sale. Both day-long and hourly deals will be offered on bundles and individual titles for the next few weeks, supplying discounts of up to 85 percent on daily sales and as much as 90 percent off of hourly prices. Even if the front page listings don't interest you, over 500 of GOG's catalog is "at least" 50 percent off, so put that GOG search bar to use and see if you can save some cash on your favorite classic. The press release also teases "more than a few giveaways," so it might be worth lurking around GOG's homepage and meticulously refreshing to check hourly deals and hunt for free games. [Image: GOG]
GOG.com members raised $1.9 million during 2013 charity event
Digital distributor Good Old Games announced that it raised $1.9 million for the World Wildlife Fund, Worldbuilders, and Gaming for Good during last year's Charity Promo, an event that offered a lineup of standout indie games in return for charitable donations. Ten studios took part in the promotion, waiving their cut of royalties for games sold during the fundraiser. During the course of the event, buyers received digital copies of three featured games after donating $5 or more to one of GOG's three chosen charities. Participants included Introversion, Subset Games, Tiger Style Games, Amanita Design, Instant Kingdom, Northway Games, Digital Game Factory, Might & Delight, Daedalic, and Oddworld.
Humble Indie Bundle X offers up Joe Danger 2, Surgeon Simulator, and more
Who's humble and ready to bundle? Is it you? Are you sure you're humble enough? The tenth Humble Indie Bundle launches today, offering up to six DRM-free, cross-platform PC games for a buyer-chosen price. All bundle buyers will receive Steam-redeemable copies of Hello Games' motorcycle stunt sim Joe Danger 2: The Movie, Freebird Games' elegiac RPG To the Moon, Minority's fantasy-themed adventure game Papo & Yo, and Gaijin Games' autoscrolling rhythm-platformer Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. Chip in a little extra cash to beat the bundle's average purchase price and you'll also receive Bossa Studios' super-gross/super-hilarious Surgeon Simulator 2013 and Abbey Games' planet-shaping strategy game Reus. Humble Indie Bundle X also includes a collection of soundtracks for all featured games, and if past bundles are of any indication, a bonus game or two are likely to be added at a later date.
Good Old Games adds 36 games to its Mac storefront
Good Old Games has discovered a new branch of software compatibility wizardry that apparently involves a magic bucket, which has resulted in 36 games being added to its storefront for Mac. Some of these have previously been available for Mac on other services like Steam, but we're not one to question the selection process of magic buckets. Among the newcomers is Fallout Tactics, Smugglers 5, Iron Storm, Enclave and Wizardry 8. The full list is provided here, though, if you'd prefer to see which of the new additions cater most to your interests.
Humble Weekly Sale collects Galaxy on Fire 2, Jagged Alliance series
The latest Humble Weekly Sale spotlights publisher bitComposer Games, offering a range of classic and modern releases from the Jagged Alliance series, among other featured games. The bundle includes the iPad-ported space exploration game Galaxy on Fire 2, World War II flight sim Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers rail shooter Thunder Wolves, and the DRM-free compilation Jagged Alliance Classics, which includes Madlab Software's 1994 tactical RPG Jagged Alliance, the follow-ups Jagged Alliance 2 and Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, and the standalone expansion Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business. Pay more than $6 for the package and you'll also get Coreplay's 2012 series revival Jagged Alliance: Crossfire, as well as the historical strategy game Expeditions: Conquistador. The collection will remain available through November 21.
Court rules that sale of DRM-laden songs on iTunes did not run afoul of antitrust law
The US Court of Appeals in San Francisco this week upheld a lower court's ruling that found that Apple's operation of the iTunes Music Store did not run afoul of antitrust law. The initial lawsuit against Apple was filed by Stacie Somers in December 2007. The suit alleged that Apple operated an illegal monopoly to the extent that songs purchased on iTunes (back when songs were encumbered with DRM) were unplayable on non-Apple devices. In finding no wrongdoing on Apple's part, the Court of Appeals noted that Apple's US$0.99 price point for songs remained the same with and without DRM enabled. Note that Apple began selling DRM-free songs on iTunes back in early 2009. Gigaom reports: Despite the commanding market share, a three-judge panel affirmed that Apple did not break antitrust laws, in part because it maintained prices at 99 cents before and after the introduction of the DRM system. The court also noted that Apple maintained its 99 cent price point even after Amazon entered the market with DRM-free music, and after Apple itself dropped the FairPlay encryption system in 2009. The court was likewise not persuaded by arguments that Apple changed its software to prevent companies like Real Network, which sold music for 49 cents a track, from operating on its devices. The court's full ruling is available for your perusal over here.
Retro City Rampage adds mod support, 'Retro+' enhanced graphics
A new update for Retro City Rampage on PC adds mod support, allowing players to experience a small slice of creator Brian Provinciano's life by creating their own vehicles, characters, fonts and color palettes in the game. The update also includes an optional Retro+ mode, upping the visual fidelity with dynamic soft shadows and doubling the number of colors displayed on-screen at once. The Steam version of Retro City Rampage updates automatically; for GOG and DRM-free owners, they'll need to log into their respective download pages and grab the 1.11 update manually. If you have yet to pick up this love letter to video games, Steam has dropped the price to $3.74 until 10am PT today.%Gallery-192390%
Shadowrun Returns' non-Kickstarter reward DLC to require Steam, DRM
During last year's Kickstarter campaign for Shadownrun Returns, developer Harebrained Schemes was dutiful in noting that every pledge level included a DRM-free version of the game. While that technically remains true, Harebrained Schemes has recently announced a slight caveat: All post-Berlin Campaign DLC will have DRM, and will require Steam.It shakes out like this: Backers will receive both a DRM-free version and the Steam version of Shadowrun Returns (which does have DRM) when the game launches in June. Additionally, anyone who pledged enough to receive the game's Berlin Campaign DLC will also be given permanent access to both versions. After that, however, all DLC will be distributed exclusively through Steam, DRM in tow."The reason is that our license to develop Shadowrun Returns actually requires that the game and its DLC be distributed under DRM," a Kickstarter update on the situation reads. "This didn't come up earlier because the situation was complicated by the number of parties involved in the license and because the process was 'ongoing.'""Ultimately," it continues, "we were able to successfully negotiate an exception with Microsoft for us to provide our Backers with a DRM-free version of the Kickstarter rewards (specifically the game and the Berlin Campaign) but that exception does not extend to non-reward DLC. So unfortunately, we cannot sell or give away DRM-free versions of the game or DLC on stores like GoG, and that's why any future Shadowrun Returns DLC will only be available for purchase on Steam."A table posted by Harebrained Schemes, illustrating the specific differences between the Steam and DRM-free versions of the game, has been embedded after the break.[Thanks, Travis!]
GOG's holiday sale discounts 475 games until Jan. 3
At some point the GOG holiday sale became unfair, an awfully cheap proposition that no fan of computer games could simply overlook. With rotating daily deals of up to 75% off and discounts up to 50% off on everything in GOG's catalogue, the platform is truly making a case for the season of giving to one's self.The sale lasts until January 3. Today's daily deals include The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for $12 and The Longest Journey for $5, among other quality offerings. As for general standouts during the promotion, we'd have to say Syndicate for $3 is a nice deal, and so is Legend of Grimrock for $3.74. Mac gamers aren't left out in the full-priced cold either, with deals on SimCity 2000 for $3, Fallout for $5 and Descent and Descent 2 for $5 to consider.For the full list of 475 games on sale during GOG's promotion, follow the source link below.
