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A new initiative from DRM-free advocates GOG will be giving DRM-free copies of selected games to gamers who already own the games - for free!
One of the major disadvantages of DRM, and especially online based DRM, is that when the game gets to a certain age, the game's publishers may turn off support for the DRM, making the game unplayable. The same can happen when an older game is played on a new operating system that does not support the defunct DRM.
For this DRM related headache at least, GOG has a solution - free games! By going to GOG's new reclaim section, game owners caught out by this DRM meanness can claim a DRM-free copy of the game for free, by entering their game serial key.
For now, the reclaim section only supports a small handful of games, including all games in the STALKER series that used the now defunct Gamespy DRM (those that have versions of the game purchased through Steam other other stores that did not use the Gamespy DRM may not be eligible for this offer). Three other games released in CIS & Russian territories, 'Eador: Genesis', 'Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword' and Mount & Blade: Warband', are also currently supported.
More reclaimable games are coming soon, according to GOG, but it might take a while before the "reclaim" section features a more meaningful list of games.
"This is just the start of something much bigger," says GOG. "We plan to add more titles to the list in the future - it's a long and complicated process that involves negotiating with multiple parties and a scavenger hunt to retrieve forgotten key-databases - but then, we are on a mission here, we'll do whatever it takes."
One of the major disadvantages of DRM, and especially online based DRM, is that when the game gets to a certain age, the game's publishers may turn off support for the DRM, making the game unplayable. The same can happen when an older game is played on a new operating system that does not support the defunct DRM.
For this DRM related headache at least, GOG has a solution - free games! By going to GOG's new reclaim section, game owners caught out by this DRM meanness can claim a DRM-free copy of the game for free, by entering their game serial key.
For now, the reclaim section only supports a small handful of games, including all games in the STALKER series that used the now defunct Gamespy DRM (those that have versions of the game purchased through Steam other other stores that did not use the Gamespy DRM may not be eligible for this offer). Three other games released in CIS & Russian territories, 'Eador: Genesis', 'Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword' and Mount & Blade: Warband', are also currently supported.
More reclaimable games are coming soon, according to GOG, but it might take a while before the "reclaim" section features a more meaningful list of games.
"This is just the start of something much bigger," says GOG. "We plan to add more titles to the list in the future - it's a long and complicated process that involves negotiating with multiple parties and a scavenger hunt to retrieve forgotten key-databases - but then, we are on a mission here, we'll do whatever it takes."