This is what steam is: a lesser form of ownership in exchange for the perks of the platform. I’ve come to prefer physical media first, DRM free second, and steam third. It’s just not as good of a value proposition to me compared to outright ownership (of the license to use the software, I know we don’t own “the game”).
Physical media today isn’t really much better though, increasingly frequently all a disk gets you is a license to activate a digital copy anyways, with a “must be online for first play” requirement.
This is what steam is: a lesser form of ownership in exchange for the perks of the platform. I’ve come to prefer physical media first, DRM free second, and steam third. It’s just not as good of a value proposition to me compared to outright ownership (of the license to use the software, I know we don’t own “the game”).
Physical media today isn’t really much better though, increasingly frequently all a disk gets you is a license to activate a digital copy anyways, with a “must be online for first play” requirement.
It’s sadly true. I have been lucky so far, but I know one day I’ll accidentally give money to a developer who does this
No, you don’t own the copyright, but you do own your individual copy. Don’t fall for the “licensed, not sold” self-serving propaganda.
I added the caveat simply because I didn’t want to get into it