Zimerius: Well it might be playing into the hands of producers/manufacturers or market controllers but, the idea that something you can't actually do something with it except with using it for yourself still can be 'yours' or as long as the provider is able to provide might also be considered as a evolution of the race and as an impact of technology advances. With the advances of internet there is already since its first introduction began a 2d world next to the real one with its own rules and masters. Game products and later on maybe only game prescriptions seems to fit nicely in with this technology advance.

Who needs to be able to trade or sell ownership when actually everyone can have access to that similar product? if only for a penny a month ;)
Its yours because of the time investment you made towards progressing a certain goal be it fun of competitive, and of course with the bronze silver and platinum medals to show your worth

Futurists also made predictions where ownership of anything will eventually fade out of existence when everyone is able to carry their whole definition of themselves with them in bits and bytes projecting this definition where and when they like

of course any new change will meet with sufficient resistance :D

Timboli: In short, you cannot download an installer from Steam, and you are required to install the game first, before you can then in some cases backup the install folder as a DRM-Free game. Until you do that, it is a type of DRM.

And to go further, you cannot just download with a browser or other program, you have to use the Steam client.

JakobFel: Be that as it may, it's a lot closer to actual ownership than just leasing the rights to the game, where they can remove it from your library or demand that you prove that you paid for it.

Just because the world is trying to eliminate private property (gotta be careful here, that can easily devolve into political debate), that doesn't mean we shouldn't fight it with all of our being. I may love Cyberpunk 2077 but I do not want a cyberpunk future. It's probably on our horizon, sadly, but I will resist it 'til the day I die because I believe in the effectiveness of tradition vs. the "progress" of the future which is literally trying to enslave humankind within a tyrannical grip...

But I digress, the fight against DRM is crucial. That's why GOG is not only the best option for gamers now, it's the only TRUE option for gamers. Purchasing from DRM platforms is still a sad necessity for now but whenever possible, I encourage people to buy from GOG or, at the very least, from other DRM-free platforms (though GOG is, by far, my favorite).

Arcadius-8606: I don't know if this has changed but I used Steam from 2019 to 2020. After trying the client for a few, I did not like it. I instead used SteamCMD to download my DRM Free games to install and play them without the Steam Client.

I only had 3 games on there but Lara Croft:GO, Jydge and Aragami. Those game still work and I no longer have Steam account and/or the client installed.

Timboli: I am aware of SteamCMD, pretty sure I have a copy somewhere, but haven't used it and not sure if it still works.

My recollection is it was a program to relocate your Steam games to another PC the easy way. I don't recall anything about being able to download games from Steam with it, but as you say it does, it must be like a cutback version of the Steam client. So still a Steam client, just not as bloated as the regular one. I must try it some time.

As for no longer having Steam installed, if it ever was installed and your PC hasn't been wiped since to remove every trace (i.e. Registry entries, dependencies outside the Steam games folder etc), then you don't have a clean PC situation where you can know for sure about the DRM-Free working state. The ideal test is a PC that has never had Steam installed on it.