The X Superbox is DRM free (other disk versions still have their DRM, which gets removed with a patch AFTER installation). I got the physical box with X, X-tension, X2, X3: Reunion and X3: Terran Conflict from Amazon a couple of years ago. Gamersgate has the Superbox on its store (more expensive than the physical box I got long ago!) and those five games are labled as DRM free there (are "DRM free" games on Gamersgate really DRM free?). Additionally it contains X3: Albion Prelude, which is a Steamworks title.

The X games are quite good and X, X-tension and X2 are "easy" too learn. X3: Terran Conflict is... HUGE! You'll still learn new things about the game after more than 100 hours (the Hub, player HQ, blueprints - stuff that lots of players never see, because only the nutty players have the endurance to get there). So, if you want a huge, huge, huge universe with hundreds of different ships you can fly and about 100 different station types you can build... then this is your game! ;)

The games themselves are. The downloader, not so much, which ends up requiring a workaround to give you a fully DRM-Free installer.

GG and GMG can both fuck off with their "DRM-free" complicated bullshit.

Thanks, real.

Avoid this DRM ridden always-on microtransaction fest for now. It will most likely be free2pay soon anyway. Now to mention the way they are treating their customers is abysmal.

Apart from that, it does not seem to be a very good game, from what I read.

^This...

I was under the impression the X3 Gold Box was DRM free as well. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Hmmm... I don't know details about every box. I was talking about the non-bundled/original releases of the games. They still come with Tages DRM, which gets removed when you patch the games to their current versions. Don't know about the X3 Gold Box. I think it should be DRM free too, since it's a bundle of Reunion 2.5 and Terran Conflict 2.0 (=both games got lots of patches already).

Great thanks, I appreciate the reply!

Well, there's always X series, which should be still purchaseable on disc, up to X3 at any rate.

Then there's Rodina, which is not out yet (procedurally generated space exploration thing with smooth transitions to planetary surfaces) - it's in early access, therefore on Steam, but it's also developed by a single guy and the Steam version can be played without Steam, so I suppose release outside of Steam is more than possible.

Edit: Oooh, scratch that, it can already be played without Steam and purchased off the dev's site.

I have the physical Superbox and it's DRM-free. You can also download a nosteam.exe from their website that removes steam from the steam version.