Players Ask Steam to Mark DRM-free Games
Once again, the gamers vent their displeasure with DRM security. All because of a Reddit user, who suggested that Steam should mark DRM-free games.
Steam may be of interest to most of you mainly during the sale, but the website's subsequent improvements (or experiments) also attract attention. However, there is apparently one important feature missing, at least according to a large group of internet users. This is evidenced by the entry of user grady-vuckovic from Reddit, calling for the addition of a new category for DRM-free games on Steam. The topic collected over 3.4 thousand likes on Steam's dedicated subforum, and the related thread on r/pcgaming already has almost 10 thousand thumbs up (with 95% positive ratings).
According to grady-vuckovic, there are "thousands" of DRM-free titles on Valve's store, enabling us to have fun without Steam on and download game files as a backup or to transfer them to another desktop. The fact that these are not empty words is to be proved by a short list of sample titles from this category. It mentions mainly independent games like A Hat in Time, Cupheada, Factorio, Transistor or Undertale, which is not surprising. However, you can also see a couple of AAA titles (of course not from recent years), including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The user notes that he understands the developers' reluctance to spread information about the lack of security as a "feature" of a game, but he argues that this would be an incentive for many players to buy. In his next entry, he mentioned the reasons why this is a desirable feature for potential buyers. These include the possibility of playing after losing access to Steam and in places without a stable (or any) internet connection, and the problems caused by DRM when playing games on Linux for Windows via Proton (a set of compatibility tools developed by Valve).
The huge number of comments (not to mention high ratings) of both entries with grady-vuckovic's suggestion shows that his proposal fell on fertile ground. Some of the commentators emphasize that they were not aware that developers do not have to use even Steam's default security features (as pointed out by the thread's author). It is unknown whether Valve would be willing to implement the change suggested by grady-vuckovic, although it is not impossible. After all, Steam already provides a lot of other information, including security or required publisher platforms. For the time being, however, this idea has to be put on the shelf reserved for other player proposals that have not (yet) been implemented.
