![]() ![]() ![]() Now that we're starting to see all kinds of game companies launching subscription services like EA's Origin Access or Microsoft's Xbox Games Pass, we won't be buying games anymore, just like we're not buying albums or movies.Īnd, then there's the game streaming services like Google Stadia looming on the horizon, and we won't even own our gaming hardware anymore - that is if the limited bandwidth a lot of folks have doesn't hold game streaming back from attaining mainstream domination. It's unfortunate that these licensing agreements that say we can buy games without owning them are the good old days, but it's kind of true. The Specter of Google Stadia haunts us (Image credit: Google) What do we do now? And, because games sold on GOG are DRM-free, if the platform goes under, you should be able to download all your games and back them up on an external hard drive, or even CDs.Įither way, it's been a while since we've seen someone walking down the street carrying a binder of PC games on CD-ROM, and we don't think that's ever going to become chic ever again. Not only is its EULA (End User License Agreement) way more accessible than other platforms, but it doesn't explicitly say you don't own the games you're buying. EA grants you a personal, limited, non-transferable, revocable and non-exclusive license to use the EA Services to which you have access for your non-commercial use, subject to your compliance with this Agreement." Epic Games Store says something similar, too. In EA's terms of use for Origin, it says "The EA Services are licensed to you, not sold. We really don't see Square Enix, for instance, being cool with the DRM being stripped from something like Final Fantasy XV (or whatever the most recent one is when this theoretical Steam shutdown would happen.)Īnd, this isn't even unique. This all comes down to one thing: licensing. You would be able to play Half-Life 2, but maybe not Dark Souls 3. It is still possible that Valve would release a patch that would let games be run without Steam in the case that the gigantic storefront ever goes belly-up, but it's likely this would only apply to its own games. ![]()
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