Transparency regarding DRM software in purchases

toasthaste

A basic feature of any reputable store is telling prospective customers exactly what it is they're buying, before they buy it. DRM (Digital Rights Management) software can do anything from:

  1. Preventing a user from playing a single-player game without an internet connection.
  2. Limiting the number of times a game can be installed (this can include things like reinstalling after reformatting a hard drive).
  3. Tracking a user's activity and sharing the collected data without the user's knowledge or consent.


Currently there is NO WAY to know, before buying a game in the Discord store, whether it comes packaged with DRM that may do any or all of the above.

Games in the Discord store should be labelled, appropriately and prominently, regarding the presence and type of DRM included so that buyers can make an informed decision before purchasing. This:

is not acceptable.

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Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • Nawer Rapter

    This is a must.

    It can feel like fraud when you put it like "yep we have some DRM free but we won't tell you".

    And I think this is not as hard to put on the store as other things, and it is BASIC info of the game you're buying.

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  • Kio

    DRM in a video game is a choice by the developer. There is DISPATCH, Discord's DRM service, which is most likely being used at this moment by most of the games.

    That being said, many developers choose other DRMs. Discord cannot verify this information for you.

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  • PixelNinja

    Hey! As a game developer, I understand the need for DRM, we think that is wrong to not inform the user before purchase, and, if necessary, make sure that no data is transmitted to the server at all. When we DRM wrap our games, we always take consideration in to the user, this is why we only DRM out betas and versions we don't want too public at the time of distribution. I fully support Discord's interest in the game development community and the need for anti-piracy. If you have any questions about the DRM status, contact the developer, they will normally be open to answer questions! 

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