Hello there dear reader today I chose to take you through a subject that is rapidly taking over the gaming industry and weigh up some of its pros and cons. Lets have a look at Digital Rights Management aka DRM and find out if it is something the gamers chose or something that has been silently imposed on them, is it for the good or simply a bad hinderance? Lets briefly discuss.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) in one of the simplest of ways to describe is when you the buyer (gamer) purchase from the game company and its publishers (Microsoft, PlayStation Steam, Nintendo etc.) the license/s to access the gaming data that the platform holder has in store for sale. This data is of course the video game that you enjoy but on a digital microscopic level its called data. DRMs chief aim is to prevent piracy thus protecting the platform holder and publishers work.
Advantages of DRM
The main advantage I see here is not to you and I the consumers but to protect the companies behind the game. Pirates are kept at bay, the game generates profits at a maximum for the publishers and platform holders as you can only play the product if they have validated you after acquiring the license through purchase. Validation of course happens only when you have internet access.
Disadvantages of DRM
While companies are guaranteed that their work cannot be duplicated and that they have a safe and secure security check to any manipulators out there this does come with its own implications. First I feel ownership is gradually moving out of our hands as gamers. Here is the thing when you and I buy a game we give out our hard earned money in exchange for the product in question thus transferring ownership from the seller to the buyer. That's the 101 of economics for almost everything generally speaking in this case typing.
Its normal to want total ownership as you would have went out of your way to get this game. You want that sense of authority over your product. You want unrestricted access, having it for as long as you want without a single worry about anything. Question is who owns the game with DRM? Is it still you the buyer? or you are indirectly purchasing tokens to access the product that's still fully owned buy the game company? I think we are a frog that has been placed in warm water and the heat is slowly rising. There is a variety of reasons that brought about DRM but I will just take on a few examples which are piracy, the rise of digital games and subscription services, large games and COVID.
Causes of DRM
Do you remember meme 32? I do, that file on PC were you could have vast access to big hit games of the 80s and 90s without having to break a sweat. I was originally a PC player myself and most of the games I got I bought them however when piracy picked up its pace the easy route is always the best way in this case isn't it? I believe game companies lost much of the money they were making due to piracy. Do you remember those days when you would rush to the store and get a physical copy of your favorite game. Once bought its yours was the feeling. You did not have to worry about internet connectivity or extra downloads caused by updates. As games got complex buying a disc started to feel incomplete as you still have to update the game and get extra content. Games started to come in tiers (ultimate edition, deluxe, complete edition etc) and buying the disc didn't answer the question entirely. Even when you buy the complete edition via disc the game still needed updates to fix bugs and issues and thus games started to rely heavily on the game companies internet servers.
Much can be said but lets move on to subscription services which I must admit that I really like them but I am slowly starting to have doubts about them. I did post my thoughts on them which you can have a look on this blog however let me tell you why I think they are a contributor. While it has become of great comfort to easily download and play the game you always wanted to play by virtue of a subscription service it means more and more people will want access to these subscription services which come at reasonable fees in exchange for access to a vast library of games and this requires the platform holder to lock up this easy access to games in a subscription model. This in turn kills the need to purchase to own but rather rent to own. Many people don't see the value in owning a video game anymore thus giving full control to the game companies again, giving them the ability to add, remove delist games as they wish. I find this a problem as some games might never be seen again and as the market is now relying on these digital subscription services games are even more dependent on the companies servers creating further motivation for DRM.
Lastly large games. Back in the days games were very small even storage space too. But as games started to become more of a movie industry needing more powerful hardware higher resolutions bigger complex worlds etc. games are now being released incomplete and heavily reliant on patches from the game companies. This again motivates DRM as you cant get the game and patches if you have not acquired the license. Lastly having COVID around boosted the need for the digital universe for a wide range of reasons and thus giving a final blow to the need to have physical media for ownership.
Conclusion
DRM is not just something that has been imposed on us but rather a way of life for the modern gamer. Eras have changed, those who lived in the days of compact discs and cartridges struggle to comprehend this new way of acquiring and "owning" games. I myself find the whole DRM concept a hinderance but when I also consider the causes it puts me in a difficult position. My biggest concern is that ownership is not in the hands of the buyer anymore but the buyer is merely buying proof of access as opposed to total legal possession of a game. How this can be solved I don't see it to be honest. It would require a change of mindset from the gaming community to start to desire total ownership once more which in this growing digital world is impossible. I have just touched briefly on this subject, I had much to say but that's it for now.
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