Anyone know if this game is actually DRM free? It looks like there's some pretty bad data collection

Please, could you elaborate this claim?

When you first launch the game it asks whether you want to opt for full or limited data collection, and I wasn't sure if that has anything to do with DRM

My question for you is do you know what DRM is ? If the answer is yes I don't have to tell you how to test it .... No idea why you ask here if you already own the game. Just cut your internet connection and start the game ...

Data collection and DRM are not the same thing. BG3 collects a lot of data too so they can provide info how often ppl died, what classes they pick etc - just a small example where nobody cares but you call it DRM free (cause it is).

For the collection part - if its says it does collect then it does. If you google a bit you will find a lot of info from 2 years ago for the steam version - same problem. Horizon ALSO have exactly the same limited data collection btw. So expect it from Sony I guess ?

And then my advice at the end - just block the exe in you firewall and that should do the trick ? Seems to work on steam so it should work here too!

Thx for the reply, I'll go ahead and just use firewall to block it

Yikes. Guess I'll be getting a refund then. Shame, Sony, shame.

Is the blocking the exe a tested method, or your educated guess? I don't have the game yet.

It is something I saw on steam in their guides for the game. You can check there - it is easy to find and there were a lot comments. But it does make sense unless something else is running with the exe that you should be able to see. There has to be something active to make the connection. From what I remember I thnik even pirated games use this exact method for the same reasons I guess. If you have the skills you can always check if the game tries or make any connections while you play and just block the IP eventually like people do with Epic Online Services for example

Thank you neighbour.

The data collection is the same as in Horizon Zero Dawn. Your choices are full and limited, no opt-out. You can block the game with your firewall, but bear in mind that the game connects to 127.0.0.1 (localhost) in order to facilitate achievements, so blocking all traffic will also prevent achievements from unlocking.

Interesting. Is there any way around that so the achievements can still work ? I read yesterday in another thread about the incoming God of War that such block affects also cloud saves - is that true ? I just tried myself with Fallout NV after blocking it and cloud saves were working but the achievements for another game did not so I wonder how these 2 are handled differently. Thankfully Days Gone does have its own in game Trophies( from the Playstation that it comes from) so you dont really need achievements but I find it sad that on steam blocking the exe does not affect the steam achievements from what I read - its only here...

Just what we needed to hear. There's a review posted by what looks like an account made just to make this one review, The review is simply titled "DRM" and the user posting it is "DRM-Watch" - a user who seems to own 0 games and has only posted 1 review. That review has some exerts from Sony's EULA, which there is a link to right on the game's store page. The thing that catches my eye is the part about the internet connection being required for some features.

If those features are cloud saves, then duh. Of course.
But if those features were like just being able to play the 2nd half of the game, that'd be a problem.

And thanks to you, it looks like we've got someone who's really tried it and it's fine. Firewall it off and you miss nothing meaningful.
Yes, local firewalls can allow a given program to connect to certain hosts (ie, localhost / 127.0.0.1 (and technically 127.anyhingelse)) and also block those same programs from connecting to anything else. To do this you need to actually make rules, so if you're asking this question, you've got some things to learn, but learning that stuff is kinda fun and fascinating and just dead useful IMHO.

The Windows firewall can do this. There are others out there too that are ultimately a little easier to use. I like Comodo's Firewall that comes with whatever they call their internet security package. It's free, and I opt out of everything else they offer with it - their web browser, DNS service, anti-virus etc. AFAIK those are fine products but I don't have need for myself and like to keep things lean. Probably some other firewalls out there now, but way back years ago when I was looking for a Windows firewall to replace like Tiny Personal Firewall and ZoneAlarm, that was about the best option I could find. Comodo enables a lot of extra stuff by default in their firewall these days, just look to turn all that off and look to enable all the advanced options. Oh and download the offline installer their devs post to their forum.

@jung2017 - Keep in mind this EULA comes from Playstation itself. It is not game specific but it is for ALL their games across all platforms. They have the exact same wording on PS and havent changed it for PC. The internet connection could be a million things - you gave one example with cloud saves, personally I thought just about patches that you need if you want to get updates or it could be just for another game since as I said all Playstation games use the exact same EULA so they may put everything in it to cover all games...

Actually no, that's not what we needed to hear at all.

Rather, what we actually need to hear is that GOG has insisted that Sony remove all of the spyware from the GOG version of this game, and also all of the other Sony games on GOG.

Otherwise, we need to hear that GOG has delisted all of the spyware-filled Sony games off of GOG, and will not be adding any more.

Any review that bashes this game for being full of spyware is 100% legit.

Blocking this game with a firewall stops Cloud Saves and Achievements from working, which are some of the game's features that the customers have paid for and need to be working (for those customers who like to use those features).

And the customer should never have to block a game with a firewall in the first place in order to bypass its spyware. Rather, games shouldn't have any spyware in the first place.

This "solution" to block the game with a firewall is not actually a solution at all. It doesn't actually solve anything.