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Steam is the best of a bad bunch really - it's not perfect, but it's much fairer than other platforms. There's another article on HTG (linked from this one) tha

Steam is the best of a bad bunch really - it's not perfect, but it's much fairer than other platforms. There's another article on HTG (linked from this one) that outlines the differences between Steam and Windows Store, and Steam scores quite highly. I was very surprised when some of my older games suddenly popped up as being available on Linux for no extra cost. When the Steam DRM works properly, it's pretty non-invasive. Can't deny Humble have it right though. This war over DRM was fought with music and non-DRM has mostly won. Maybe something similar will happen with games.

Zikes 11y ago
gog.com is the best option out there in my opinion. A strict no DRM stance, with sales on par with Steam's. You can download the installation binaries once and install offline as many times as you like with no extra effort, so there's no worries about losing your entire collection when a Russian script kiddy hijacks your Steam account to facilitate Counterstrike item scams and then Steam bans your account and says "we will no longer respond to further inquiries and consider this matter to be closed".
- sp332 11y ago
  Humble Bundle also has a DRM-free option for many of their games. They have a similar online library feature as well. But they have a lot fewer games.
- binarycrusader 11y ago
  Gog is great for consumers, not so much for developers. The terms of their contracts are not particularly friendly to developers. The specifics are all NDA'd.
- proactivesvcs 11y ago
  Disappointingly, GOG's stance on "no DRM" is far from strict. Some of their titles require online activation or authorisation for multiplayer.
maccard 11y ago
The music and drm war was totally won by Spotify/Etc.
- mnx 11y ago
  Which is like drm on steroids. And kind of exactly what people were warning drm would lead to - you don't own any music. But damn it's cheap and convenient.
  - bduerst 11y ago
    As an ex-media hoarder, I am fine with this. The major benefit of owning music was that you could consume it easily on-demand. Since streaming services have expanded their libraries, delivery channels, and made songs available offline, there are less competitive benefits to actually owning a digital copy.
    - gargravarr 11y ago
      As a still-music-hoarder, I tried Spotify Premium for a while, but decided I didn't want to pay for it - I spent about the same cost monthly in new music, but if I stopped paying, I'd still have free access to all that music with no ads, and be able to play it all on any device with or without an internet connection (e.g. the old iPod connected to my car stereo). Streaming is certainly convenient, but they make it very difficult to walk away once you commit.
      - bduerst 11y ago
        That's weird, because the variety of new music I listen to each month greatly exceeds the $10 price tag to own it, by magnitudes. Even if you pirated, the time spent each month finding, managing, and evaluating torrents is worth $10. With the money saved you could always just purchase the songs if the service stopped.
        Grishnakh 11y ago

Zikes 11y ago

gog.com is the best option out there in my opinion. A strict no DRM stance, with sales on par with Steam's. You can download the installation binaries once and install offline as many times as you like with no extra effort, so there's no worries about losing your entire collection when a Russian script kiddy hijacks your Steam account to facilitate Counterstrike item scams and then Steam bans your account and says "we will no longer respond to further inquiries and consider this matter to be closed".

sp332 11y ago
Humble Bundle also has a DRM-free option for many of their games. They have a similar online library feature as well. But they have a lot fewer games.
binarycrusader 11y ago
Gog is great for consumers, not so much for developers. The terms of their contracts are not particularly friendly to developers. The specifics are all NDA'd.
proactivesvcs 11y ago
Disappointingly, GOG's stance on "no DRM" is far from strict. Some of their titles require online activation or authorisation for multiplayer.

maccard 11y ago

The music and drm war was totally won by Spotify/Etc.

mnx 11y ago
Which is like drm on steroids. And kind of exactly what people were warning drm would lead to - you don't own any music. But damn it's cheap and convenient.
- bduerst 11y ago
  As an ex-media hoarder, I am fine with this. The major benefit of owning music was that you could consume it easily on-demand. Since streaming services have expanded their libraries, delivery channels, and made songs available offline, there are less competitive benefits to actually owning a digital copy.
  - gargravarr 11y ago
    As a still-music-hoarder, I tried Spotify Premium for a while, but decided I didn't want to pay for it - I spent about the same cost monthly in new music, but if I stopped paying, I'd still have free access to all that music with no ads, and be able to play it all on any device with or without an internet connection (e.g. the old iPod connected to my car stereo). Streaming is certainly convenient, but they make it very difficult to walk away once you commit.
    - bduerst 11y ago
      That's weird, because the variety of new music I listen to each month greatly exceeds the $10 price tag to own it, by magnitudes. Even if you pirated, the time spent each month finding, managing, and evaluating torrents is worth $10. With the money saved you could always just purchase the songs if the service stopped.
      - Grishnakh 11y ago