this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2026
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This part bears repeating anytime someone says "Valve killed ownership". They can break the trust that is formed with their customers at any time, but so far they have not.
Interesting, not something i have heard of before, but definitely something I need to look into.
I emulate older console games, and assume there is the possibility that they are all I will be able to access one day.
While at the end of the day, valve is a company that only wants your money, steam does have DRM free games
It really is all about trust. Of all the digital storefronts, Sony is the only major one I can think of that has actually reached into people's libraries and pulled things out[1]. So far it seems to be limited to movies and TV shows, so it's not a perfect 1:1, but they are the worst company to trust on this.
Buying from any digital store with DRM is a risk. Some have failed completely, but the big three of Sony, Valve, and MS are unlikely to go under any time soon. By establishing a precedent of tying your access to their behind-the-scenes licensing agreements, Sony's model is more risky for consumers than the others.
Other examples are welcome, I'm always willing to put another company on the naughty list.
Steam pulled out content (music) from GTA San Andreas install with an “update.”
Can't you download the old update, though? I think that's a thing, anyway. But maybe not in this case because...
Music licensing is its own insanity, and game publishers are kinda screwed on those rules. Licenses in music only permit distribution for a certain timeframe, and digital downloads are considered distribution, so when their licenses expire, they can't legally distribute anymore.
And the RIAA are litigious assholes, so you're gonna get sued if you don't comply.
This isn't a good point, how many people do you think remove the steam dependency from their games?
Not many, because Steam hasn't given them a reason to. That's not the point.
The point is that if Steam ever does shut down or start revoking games, people can keep playing them without it.
If Sony ever shuts down or starts revoking games/media you can also strip the copy protection off of it and continue using it just the same.
Where are the instructions for doing this?
https://www.psx-place.com/forums/ps5-jailbreak-hacks.242/
Look through here. Spoiler the actual copy protection removal is kept secret by people who do it.
Indeed. My point is that the PlayStation situation is not comparable to what we can do with Steam games, where it's all out in the open, with multiple independent implementations, at least one of which is open-source and multi-platform.
(I'm glad there are people working on PS5 hacks, though.)
Steam also doesnt force DRM, it's developers/publishers deciding to use it in the first place.
You'd only need Steam DRM for your game if you want to use any features like Steam multiplayer, workshop etc.
So while it's easy to bypass, most games dont even need it in the first place.