149

Does purchasing a game on GOG.com really grants ownership of the game and not a license to use it? (fedia.io)

submitted 2 days ago by ryujin470@fedia.io to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

132 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Their tagline is literally 'you buy it, you own it'. But does it really grants ownership?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

GOG lets you download installers for all your games that you can back up somewhere so that you can install and run their DRM free games without GOG or even an internet connection. It’s like back when games came on cd/dvd.

Steam is DRM so in most cases you can’t launch any of your games without the Steam client. Steam does sell some games that are DRM free on Steam, but you still need the Steam client to install them.

So the difference here is that you can use GOG to build your own library of DRM free games that don’t need GOG at all. if GOG ceased to exist, you can still install and play all your games on any device you want.

If Steam ceased to exist, you’d have no way to install your games on any device so you’d only be able to play the games you currently have installed, and only if they’re DRM Free.

this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026

149 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38925 readers

1244 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.