This is nonsense comparing a generic pic and mix application with a proprietary single focus application. A browser has numerous functionality and if you don’t like one, pick another from the multitude about, or use a plugin, or a command line program, or write your own. A clients sole function is to lock people to one service, therefore to monopolise the user and extract the maximum in revenue and data from that individual. You cannot use other clients - or can you use galaxy to download steam games? True it’s not directly drm, though it can be used in that manner. However in the pantheon of anti-consumer practices such as drm, lootboxes, proprietary net only multiplayer, streaming etc. clientwares hold their own special place.

I feel like one of these threads I made may be relevant:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/which_is_holding_back_gog_more_from_getting_aaa_games_here_lack_of_drm_or_smaller_userbase_vs_st ,
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/is_gogs_drmfree_requirement_or_gogs_userbase_size_a_bigger_issue_for_getting_games_here/page1

When the client is only needed to download... and then can be ignored or even uninstalled... it's not nearly as different as you're portraying it. Obviously I'm not saying a web browser and a game downloader are the same exact thing, more that DRM-wise they're not a different experience. Open an app, login to GOG, download the game, logout and maybe never go to GOG again. Open the Epic Client, login, download the game, close the client and maybe never open it again. It's the same experience, you're just opening a different "thing."

A lot of people here are triggered by the word "client" but clients aren't inherently DRM or bad things.

You have really locked yourself into that one... :/

As I stated in there:

Which is holding back a shark enthusiast more from getting close up picture of sharks: lack of blood and guts he smear on himself before jumping into a shark pond or the megapix of his camera?

Its not meant as mockery, but the only analogy I could thing of fitting.

To my knowledge Mircosoft is one of the last major name with no presence on GOG.com. If they won't sell things like Fable, Freelance, Age of Empires, or Age of Mythology here then the odds of Mircosoft allowing Obsidian to sell The Outer Worlds on GOG.com is zero.

The value of no DRM is less about the lack of traditional copy protection as it is about not being tied to any restrictions in installation. When the distribution site mandates install from the server you won't be able to reinstall it and play it again when that stores goes out of business.

Take the high price of gaming and add it to the endless supply of b.s. the video game industry has dumped on us over the years. Because of this I firmly believe that expecting to be able to install and play the game as long as I have the hardware to run even if the developer and distributor have shut down is fair and reasonable. As a result of this I see everything sold of Steam, Epic, and most other digital store fronts as copy protected.

To those who don't see it this way - compare mandatory install from the server to online activation. There seems to be a lot of similarities to me.

The Outer Worlds isn't published by Microsoft, it's published by Private Division, a branch of 2K. Any existing deals for where to sell the game- such as on PlayStation are being honoured. So if there were any existing GOG timed deal we don't know about, then the game could still maybe come here. But I doubt that there was any such deal. The sequel will be Microsoft published.

I don't need a browser. Just a python script like gogrepo. Which no other store can do.

In that case GOG games are not DRM-free either, as you need a client to download the games (including downloading update installers, if available).

Yes, your web browser is a client, by the very definition in the client-server model (you connect to GOG web servers with your web browser client). And yes, you have to log in to your GOG account with that web browser client, before you can download your game(s).

Being able to use various web browsers or even third-party tools (like I use gogrepo.py) as your client might be convenient, not locked into only one official client (like Steam or Galaxy)... but it has absolutely nothing to do whether the game is DRM-free or not.

If Outer Worlds really is transferrable and playable on a system without an internet connection (like the OP suggested), then yes the game is DRM-free. It might not be quite as convenient as a GOG version would be (with a specific installer (which installs dependencies etc. too) and also includes an uninstaller, in case running the game adds some crap into Windows registry), but still DRM-free.

That is not to say I wouldn't want the game to appear on GOG though, mainly because GOG officially supports the game as a DRM-free product, while Steam and Epic don't, even if a game happens to be DRM-free, at least in its initial state. On Steam on e.g. Skyrim DRM was added later on (apparently they had accidentally left DRM out in the first released version), and someone here mentioned some game on the Epic Store also got DRM added later. That's what you get when the store/service never officially promised their games to be DRM-free.

Before making your purchase decision, realize that things might become complicated if the game is not officially supported as DRM-free, either by the store/service itself (Epic Store), or at least the game publisher.

So while the game might happen to be DRM-free now, there's no promise DRM will never be added in some future update. Like originally happened with Skyrim on Steam (not sure what is the current status of Skyrim, does it still have DRM (CEG) or not), or apparently some other game(s) on Epic Store already if I read right).

Or, while the base game might remain DRM-free, its future DLCs might not (which is what I recall happened with the Steam version of Crusader Kings 2, ie. the base game could be indeed be played DRM-free without the client, but the DLCs not; again, I don't know what the current status of CK2 is, other than that the base game seems to be free-to-play nowadays).

So yes, the fact that GOG officially supports their (single-player) games as DRM-free products, gives them a benefit in my mind. It is not even on Steam (yet). That is probably because Epic paid for the exclusivity (outside of the Windows Store, where it has appeared as well, being a Microsoft game IIRC).

Most probably MS was going to release the game both on Windows Store and Steam (at least) at the same time, but Epic basically paid MS to postpone the Steam release and release it on Epic instead.

Good point about MS, they are a different type of company and really don't need the money... I'm a little confused about it, UWP is its own DRM via windows store, which is rather good and bad all at once. Cracking it is tough but its also more efficient application wise. That said UWP games and apps are starting to be an important revenue for MS, its a model that is working. Iv'e played gears with it and it ran really well, no crashes no issues.

A point was brought up about why GOG cant get AAA, I bet it has to do with numbers of users. There are 9 Steam emulators i know of, 3 Uplay and countless crack sites that are solid trustworthy sources. So the "DRM free" aspect is a non issue. 4/5 new games released over the past 3 months were cracked the first few days if not prior to release.

Borderlands 3 is the only one hanging on... hell the VR version already got popped.

So it comes down to money gained and developing for GOG and there requirements, but with galaxy it should be easier just 2 repos to maintain. Hell with the code you can hook into steams MP without issue, or so a few devs have stated on twitter... I really am curious why GOG is overlooked so much on the AAA front.

It's not a Microsoft game. Obsidian was publishing it through Private Division, who made the Epic deal. Microsoft bought Obsidian after everything was signed and prepared, and though obviously they will control Obsidian's revenue now they have nothing to do with this game or releasing it. The Microsoft logo isn't even in the opening logos.

P.S. This game is excellent. We can all disagree on what DRM is, but you can buy this now with zero need to ever deal with Epic again and it's a great action RPG so far. If you liked New Vegas I highly suggest doing it. Game's very stable and bug-free at launch, too.

I feel ya, there games are just not that good. Whats worse about there gamepass is you lose access to any title thats removed. Atleast we'll have master chief collection soon. Thats the only thing I'm really excited about thats associated to them.

I quite liked the original Halo. Halo 2 wasn't good but maybe that was the crappy PC port. Looking forward to playing all the other sequels, which I never did before since I'm PC only. The original Gears of War was... okay? A decent little time-waster. Never played 4 or 5 because we didn't get 2 or 3. Maybe someday.

I'm honestly struggling to think of other MS published games outside of racers I don't care about.

What client? Galaxy is optional and I don't use it.