Steam It’s still the main place most people go to buy PC games, and for the most part, the Valve Store is fantastic. However, there is always room for improvement, and among an increasing number of top PC games employing DRM tools like Denuvo on Steam, users would welcome a useful addition to the feature tag system.
Listing a game’s features is a great way to help people find games that suit their needs, whether they’re looking for the best co-op games they can play with friends, games that have full controller support, or verified support. for Steam Deck games. . At the moment, Valve it shows a box below these with requirements like third-party DRM and any associated restrictions, but there isn’t a way to quickly get a list of DRM-free games.
DRM (digital rights management) tools have always been a touchy subject; they are primarily used to help reduce hacking, but in many cases have had a negative impact on game performance. However, some developers also choose not to include DRM in their games as a customer service, because a DRM-free game can be played without logging into Steam or even connecting to the internet, which means that if something were to happen to Steam or to the person’s account, they could still play that game.
DRM can also have a tendency to cause problems for players using compatibility tools, such as Linux gamers playing Windows-only games through Proton, something Steam Deck users can take advantage of. You may also be planning to travel somewhere with limited internet – Valve itself is pretty generous with its Steam offline mode – but third-party DRM tools are generally less forgiving.
After big releases like Street Fighter 6, Redfall and Hogwarts Legacy with Denuvo DRM, a popular thread on PC Gaming Reddit has reignited the call for Valve to implement ‘DRM-free’ as a listable feature, which has garnered thousands of upvotes. since it was published.
The staff at PCGamingWiki, which keeps track of a list of DRM-free games on Steam, says their estimate of around 950 games without any DRM is probably well below the actual total, because it assumes Steam DRM is being used by default. until verified. otherwise. Having an official tag that developers can implement themselves seems like a pretty useful solution to determining truth.
For now, you can’t go too far wrong with the best free games on Steam, or you can browse the biggest and best upcoming games in 2023 to see what you’ll be playing later this year.
