Publishers Scared of Going DRM-free

The gaming industry sure loves its DRM, unlike that of the recent trend in the music industry. CD Projekt’s Good Old Games digital distribution service, which is set to sell retro games without any form of DRM, is having a tough time convincing publishers to join the platform.

"We’re trying to convince [publishers] there is nothing to be afraid of," said studio CEO Michael Kicinski. "DRM-free, that is something they are really scared of, but on the other hand we can say ‘all of those games are available pirated widely so it’s better to sell them for small money than make the customer’s life difficult and get some more revenues.’"

CD Projekt is known best for The Witcher, but is currently focusing on launching the GOG service which will offer cheap, Vista-friendly versions of old games such as FreeSpace and Fallout.

"DRM makes customer’s lives too complicated, and this is usually because of some corporate ideas, policies and trying to be smart, too smart, in how to get customers and how to keep them and no let them go somewhere else. We are believers in the free market and bringing freedom to customers."