I see it very different from the OP. Now that they have given it away for free and I redeemed it in my EFR — Epic Freebie Retrieval™ — account, there is no ethical concern for me about downloading a pirate copy to play the single player campaign with. They can't claim about a lost sale since I own a copy that is absolutely legal.

Screw their Rockstar Social Club and whatever other DRM crap they pile on top of it. I just want to play the game DRM-free and I was more than okay with the possibility of buying it that way.

Good logic and I fully agree with it: morally you have all the rights to play the game you *own* how ever you want. But it's not about a *lost copy* (these are just words for bullsh@itting us: actually piracy has a positive effect on sales due to a spreading effect > free advertisement in a form of full demo), according to End User License Agreement (the Law) you can't modify anything in your game, to exaggerate more even if you mod patch your legally bought game you can be fined in developed countries and in some developing countries as well, all you need is to have a willing police officer and a denunciation from your good neighbor or internet service provider. In other words you can't legally pirate anything even if you bought / got it legally before, that's the world we're living in.

That's true. In Germany, backup copies of games you own legally are actually legal. And there is no law against removing copy protection from games you own either. As long as you don't distribute those games in any way.

"Double the DRM, double the fun"... oh wait. It actually was "Double the gun, double the fun". Nice quote from Sam in Serious Sam 2 ;). Cheers

This part is true.

This part is not true.

To be very clear about this: yes, it is legal to make copies of your legally purchased (digital) medias, BUT it is not legal to copy any legally purchased medium, if it would be necessary to remove and/or otherwise circumvent any existing copy protection.

And yes - I am aware of the absurdity. But that's how the lawmakers have decided.
Only (digital) media without copy protection can be legally copied.

Yeah you are right at least what I got from reading some eu laws about this.
I was interested in backup my steam games and looks like you are not allowed to do :( no modify nothing
only allowed to access them throu stream client.

Correct.
As soon as you have to remove/circumvent any existing copy protection to create a copy - that copy becomes illegal.

So to make everything owned and uncopyable forever, put some crap DRM/copyprotection in when you distribute, so you can say it can't be legally copied no matter what... *sigh*

I guess it depends on local laws. In many European countries copyright laws don't override privacy laws.

You answered your own question. Only pirates get DRM-free versions of games like GTA V. There is no legal way to get a DRM-free version.

So it makes no sense to buy a DRM-ed version on GMG instead of taking a free also-DRMed version on EGS.

The game may not go away, but the music might. Just 3 more years before they hit the 10 year mark where licensed music tends to disappear from games.

Most countries still have these ancient laws like "it's illegal to blow your nose using an oak leaf on the third Sunday of the month". Sounds silly right? They're actually, legally speaking, equally valid as those absurd DRM circumvention laws.
I don't want to make this political - just draw your own conclusions.

I will not even install this shit because of denuvo-like software (I don't like to infect my pc with that kind of shit).
I don't think I will miss much, gta vice city was good but not my type of game.

PS. About the removing DRM... it is illegal to actively try to remove drm... But if "by chance" you can make a copy without DRM, that's legal.
Example, if you download a program online that seems to you a harmless program to copy files (while in reality it is an "evil program" for removing the drm) and you don't know, nobody can accuse you of anything and your copy without drm it is legitimate.

Thanks for making it known. Not that i added it for anything else, other than library display, but anyway...