When you get "free" games on sites that require the launchers, that's sketchy because it's free with restrictions. For example, when you get a free game on Epic Games, that is contingent on using their launcher, or twitch which is just as bad if not worse because their launcher doesn't include the ability to filter games that you can legally stream. It's cap yo that they can take away those free games like a fish on a hook without notice. Its to get their foot in your door. I am so paranoid that I cannot control the fun I get.

O___o

Is there a point here?!

Yeah, "free games" cost whatever the current PC you're using costs, plus the electricity and internet to run it, and rent or taxes if necessary. Also, the time it consumes to create an account to download everything. FREEDOM AIN'T FREE.

You ask this question on forums where people are freaking out over free dlc that requires logging to Galaxy to use it. (;

Why would I care at all about that? Far more accurate to say: people are freaking out, and rightfully so, about GOG using Galaxy as a DRM-gate behind which it has DRM-gated content locked within 2 of CDPR's flagship games, and both of which are falsely advertised as being "DRM-free" on GOG, even though in fact they are not.

If you don't like it, don't take the free games. Problem solved.

And to download them you don't even need their own client, there are alternative downloaders.

Well, duh! Obviously, no one will just give you things without expecting something in return. The only question is what exactly is the purpose of giving you game free of charge and if you are okay with it.

That's actually two questions :)

To the first one: That's quite easy: They want you to look at their site and of course to make an account on their site.

They can spend money for adds on other sites or spend money to give away a game, which makes players come to their site.

This will have to end at some point; it's unclear for how long Epic can afford to give away games for free.

As for the free game that got taken away without notice: if you're unsatisfied with your purchase or gift, you're always entitled to return it. That said, of course you're also entitled to protest to certain practices, like changing the freebie in between. But then again: it's a freebie; such protest would have more substance if it wasn't a freebie.

As for the DRM and streaming issue: That's how it is now. You're welcome to formally protest against the requirement to create an account and install their launcher. But either you buy it (or get the freebies) with those restrictions or you don't. It's the same everywhere: if you want to watch movies with, say, the most advanced dynamic HDR format (like HDR10+ Adaptive or Dolby Vision IQ), streaming is the only way to get that, because on most BluRay UHD releases there's only static HDR. The same goes for video games. (And with streaming services, the requirement of getting it is to have an account as well and to pay monthly/yearly, and with the standing issue that some series/movies are at the one streaming service, others at another and again others at even a third streaming service, so you'd have to pay for multiple streaming providers if your taste in series and movies is "normal" anyway... go ahead and be unsatisfied with that...)

My personal example: I'm waiting for the sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn for Windows on PC. The PS4 and PS5 versions of Horizon: Forbidden West are already available, but since I am a PC gamer, I'm waiting... And my only choice is to not buy (a PS5 and the game).

Also, I tend to buy most of my games on GOG for the reason of them being the best available choice DRM-wise. But that's the only choice I have, other than not buying it at all...

TL;DR I've had this feeling in the past already, but with commercial software such as Windows and Mac OS, which is why I'm on Linux now. Freedom is, in this case, hard work, as most of the time you have to install and maintain it by yourself. And while I'm very happy with that choice as I enjoy the freedom I have with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), I'm aware that this isn't for everyone... Every coin has two sides. Take your pick, or, and this is the often overlooked other option: don't participate.

Not that it is the point here, but there are other DRM-free stores, so at least with certain games you have a choice.

Even most games on Steam are DRM-free. Of course whether you want to count all those unknown games is another matter, but simply as a binary yes/no thing, yes, there are DRM-free choices outside GOG.

There are even many DRM-free games on Epic, not that it necessarily makes the OP or too many other people happy as such.

Obviously GOG is the simplest choice, but "not buying at all" as an alternative is a bit extreme.

"some" is a better description. About 10% of my games are and according to the list maintained by the community by far less, especially after you take out the indies of the equasion (which you can get guaranteed DRM free on itch.io).

Of course I only look at games which I can't get on GOG. I would love to see Castle of Illusion drm free or Wolfe or Voodoo Vince or Giana Sisters 2D or Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga or Pinball FX or Lego City Undercover or Doom or Contrast or Dark Souls or Deathloop or Santa Clause in Trouble or Catherine or the Art of Murder Series or Darkness Within or Mata Hari or Sherlock Holmes Mystery of the Mummy or Zerzura or Memento Mori 1+2 or the Spyro Trilogy or Twin Sector or NieR or Viking or Deadpool ... but it's not gonna happen.

Some of them are easily cracked however, did so with Spyro after buying it.

I won't take out indies, because that's what I'm mostly interested in.
And you can find thousands of those with no DRM at all.

If you want commercial AAA games, then the DRM rate is probably well over 90%, maybe close to 100%, but the actual good stuff is very different. Indies and such.

Also, you have two very big misconceptions there.
Itch.io is not DRM-free. Most of the stuff there is DRM-free, maybe like over 99,99%, but they have stuff that has some form of DRM in it. They are not a DRM-free store as such.

And then again, there are loads of games that are on Steam, but not Itch.io.
Obviously it goes the other way too, there are many games on Itch.io that you can't find on Steam.

Most likely, statistically speaking, whether you find on Itch.io, or Steam, or both, it's going to be DRM-free.

I have few hundred games on Itch.io wishlist, and most likely none of them has any DRM.
I have a couple of thousand games on my Steam wishlist, and based on my best guess and experiences, no more than 200 will have some sort of DRM in them (not counting Steam client to download them).

Those lists you mentioned are a good tool, but they are seriously lacking.
I remember a while back I downloaded maybe 10 games from Steam, none had DRM, and none of them was on those lists. If people don't report these games, they won't appear on DRM-free lists automagically.

Well .... yes and no.

With Epic for instance, many of their games are DRM-Free, and you can use a program like Legendary instead to download them. Sure you end up with an install folder and not installer files, but you can often just zip those up yourself, so a little more work, and for me falls under the definition of DRM-Free Lite because of that.

Steam has a somewhat similar thing with SteamCMD, which is a command-line client rather than the regular bloated gui Steam client.

I don't know about any of the other stores.

Playnite is another approach for multiple stores.

There is no avoiding a client, even if it is just your browser, as all have a membership requirement (username & password) to download. Of course the download state is important to many here, and drm-free status.