This is spot on. I was less upset by the THQ deal, but this time it is a clear failing.

As far as I know, Sacred 2 IS DRM free now. Even through steam. I got both the gamersgate version and the steam version, but have not checked if the Steam version can run without it, the Gamersgate one is DRM-free, no securom, no tages, no serial check, no nothing. Which is goood since sacred 2 was a PAIN IN THE ASS to install with securom.

That's why it's so strange that they didn't include a proper DRM-free version in the bundle. Maybe they thought it'd show the other games up so to speak? Comforting to hear that it might be DRM-free on Steam, but it's still sad to see HB fall like this.

Could be a publisher request, but I'd like to have 3 different services providing me with Sacred 2 downloads, hell, humble would probably include a torrent distro of it, which would be just great to have because it IS enormous and when steam handles files that big I always have to validate files. Torrents self-validating could help with that shit.

Do you honestly think the HB guys would have demanded anything like this? You use a marketing approach like "DRM free" only if it can increase you sales.

The DRM free marketing approach works mostly for stuff like indies, where people are lured into spending more by an "emotional approach". It is pretty useless with big publishers. And adding the DRM free version would have meant work and potential abuse options. Deep Silver clearly calculated that this is not worth it. And the HB guys decided that using the DRM free marketing angle won't work for big publishers anyway, so they dropped it.

If there is any bundle to blame for a "slippery slope" it is the first Android bundle, which derived from standard bundles first. The THQ bundle hat no influence. Once the HB guys decided that the DRM free marketing is not worth it for big publishers, the floodgates were open. It could have started with this bundle just as likely.

Not really. Ubisoft garnered a fair bit of success with Rayman Origins after a series of sales flops - particularly remarkably as it failed on the consoles - so it shows that DRM-free from major publishers does sell and the 'emotional approach' as you put it does work for them.

It's not that the DRM-free marketing angle wouldn't work for big publishers. HB could easily have applied some pressure on the basis of their proven track record. The problem is Koch Media's old-guard management and mistaken belief that DRM actually works combined with HB's willingness to abandon its principles and dilute its brand value in order to make a quick buck.

Seriously, does anyone have the same respect for HB that they did three years ago? Sure, people still buy there nowadays, but all they're seen as these days is as a place for cheap games. A shame, because the brand had such marketing power just a year ago. Now it's worth next to nothing.

How so? The Android bundle was a little different, yes, but nobody's begrudging 'different' or 'new'. There's a difference between creative experimentation and cashing in for a quick buck. The Android bundle was DRM-free, and had Windows, Linux and Mac versions.

I'm not saying that DRM free never works as a marketing tool. GOG is pretty much running only on this nowadays, and there is a market. Thanks to the benefits of digital distribution, even small markets can be monetized quite easy and cost effective. But this marketing approach will not sell you any more games when it comes to a Company of Heroes or a Saints Row. Because the target group is different.

And I wouldn't put Rayman Origins success on the DRM. It was a very well designed plattformer on a system that hasn't seen that kind of high quality game very often. I bought it on Steam (and am actually a bit pissed it doesn't use any Steamworks stuff. Not even cloud saving.) I would have bought it on uPlay, if it would have been a uPlay title (random side remark, uPlay client now acknowledges Steam uPlay games). So, for somebody like me who doesn't care about DRM free but for services, Ubisoft lost a 30% cut due to me buying it on Steam.

Anyway, you say Origins was a success because of its lack of DRM, I say it was so because it was the best plattformer the PC has seen in quite some time.

Note: "not care about DRM free" doesn't mean "not care about DRM". A lot of people haven't bought FF VII on Steam due to the third party account. I won't touch any game with Starforce or use non-publisher clients (except Steam obviously). But I also won't buy any game that just gives me an installer. (Unless I really want the game and it isn't available in any other way or buy it for "greenlight" purposes). Because I find this a ridiculous lack of service in 2013.

I have, but I guess that isn't surprising ;-).

I think the "dilute" of the HB brand, if there even is one, is caused by multiple factors. The biggest, imo, being the over saturation of the indie scene. In many ways the indie scene has run its course, as 80% of current indies are just copies of more succesfull concepts. The most succesful indie bundles also had the best games, like Bastion. And the HB still differ vastly in what and whom they sell. Books still gather a higher BTA than games. Small, or "indie" pubs still also still have a higher BTA than THQ will ever have (or Deep Silver, I haven't checked, but I guess the BTA is already below 5$).

The reason HB has lost its "special status" is more because of the huge increase in bundles, weekly sales and whatnot than of the THQ bundle.
Indeed. Although it has lost a bit of its charming insanity. Who was that guy who said from now on all bundles will be DRMed? Is he still around? He was new back then.

Yes, and even more so...

You may be right. It was going to happen anyway, the THQ bundle was just evidence of it. If the THQ bundle hadn't happened then this thread would have happened a couple of days ago instead of months ago.

I do maintain that originally the DRM-free thing wasn't just a marketing thing for the HB guys, they felt fairly strongly about the DRM-free and cross platform causes. The real cause for change is when they formed an actual company (Humble Bundle Inc.) and accepted money from investment companies. This means it's just a business now, so you're right that DRM-free is now just a marketing approach. I don't think you can blame anything on the first Android bundle though, all that did was add things to the formula. The games were all available DRM-free on Windows, Linux and OSX.