←back to thread

GOG's Preservation Program Is the DRM-Free Store Refocusing on the Classics

(arstechnica.com)
161 points m463 | 2 comments | 14 Nov 24 06:30 UTC | HN request time: 0.43s | source
Show context
pjerem ◴[14 Nov 24 08:21 UTC] No.42134143[source]▶
Once upon a time, I loved buying my games on GOG, most of the time at full price.

But then I’ve been burnt more than I should by developers who then forgot that this platform exists and go all in on their Steam customers : cross play ? That’s for Steam. Announcement of mods support ? … on Steam Workshop !

The more recent example in my mind is Timberborn : I love this game and I bought it on GOG because I want my games as DRM free as I can. Boom, they recently added offcicial mod support … on Steam !

But ! I must say once again : Big up to Satisfactory devs who announced that they won’t support Steam Workshop to not harm their Epic customers. We have a good old semi official community managed mod loader (ficsit.app) and the modding community is thriving as much as it would on Steam workshop.

I just want to add : I have nothing against Steam, it’s one of the companies I still consider to be great (as a customer at least) and I have a huge Steam library. My issue is more with the developers selling their games on all the platforms then making anything non Steam second class citizens. And it’s especially infuriating with games who launches only on Epic Games because they have negotiated a temporary exclusivity (which was the case of Satisfactory, but for once they managed it well) and then release a Steam version with more features.

replies(5): >>42134163 #>>42134317 #>>42134500 #>>42135070 #>>42135363 #
1. anilakar ◴[14 Nov 24 11:57 UTC] No.42135363[source]▶
Some modders only release their content on Steam Workshop and you cannot access it without a license for the base game.

Arma 3 server admins have to download mods on their gaming computer and then manually move those files over to the server computer.

I also remember a Total War: Warhammer mod creator calling Epic customers thieves when they asked Steam users for the mod files.

replies(1): >>42135737 #
2. jasomill ◴[14 Nov 24 12:53 UTC] No.42135737[source]▶
To cite a particularly silly example: while the Halo Master Chief Collection can be purchased from both Steam and the first-party Microsoft store, the modding tools are only available through Steam, and the Halo 2 and 3 tools require a license purchased through Steam[1].

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/halo-master-chief-collecti...