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GOG: How an Indie Game Store Took On the Pirates and Won

An anonymous reader writes "As if we needed further proof that DRM really is more trouble for publishers and consumers than it's worth, Good Old Games, the DRM-free download store that specializes in retro games, has yet more damning evidence. In an interview this week, the store's managing director says that its first venture into day one releases earlier this year with Witcher 2 was a storming success — and the version that hit the torrent sites was a cracked DRM version bought from a shop. The very definition of irony."

5 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Dropping DRM is a step in the right direction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    When talking about games, the "assets" are 3d models, textures, scripting and dialog.

    Source code isn't playable without data

  2. Re:Dropping DRM is a step in the right direction by BobPaul · · Score: 4, Informative

    Doom is open source. You still need the level file (*.wad) to play the game. You have to pay for that.

  3. Re:Addressing only half the battle. by dywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    Probably detected a break in the HDCP chain. The Anydvd driver is essential for HTPCs even when you own the bluray disc.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  4. Re:But without DRM ... by Hatta · · Score: 4, Informative

    The crackers would be more likely to crack the one with DRM, because there's nothing to crack on the DRM free copy. Cracking is a game to these people, with nothing to crack there's no fun.

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  5. Re:Article is Misleading by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Informative

    What? No. Utterly false.

    In fact, the parent company of GOG is the company that developed the game in the first place, so of course they made it available on GOG. It was available on launch day from GOG back in May 2011. In fact, it was available from them for pre-order before it was available anywhere else. The reason you're probably confused is because GOG replaced the regular edition of the game with the enhanced edition in April 2012, hence why it shows as having a release date of April 2012 on GOG's site.

    Sorry to rain on your ill-researched drivel with some actual facts.