Are publishers obligated to state if a 3rd party DRM is implemented in their Steam game?

[Waifu4Life]

Hi there,

New on Steam here. I was looking at DBZ Fighters and saw that there was no 3rd party DRM, but according to Wikipedia, there is, so who's right and who's wrong here? Are publishers obligated to state if a 3rd party DRM is implemented in their Steam game?

Also, I've read that every SquareEnix games (Japanese ones, not EIDOS games) have some form of always online DRM as well, is this true?

Thanks

[wuddih]

yes, they are. they just need to mention the name when privacy related data is shared with that 3rd party. otherwise "this crap needs internet" would be legally enough to cover the obligation.

Requires agreement to a 3rd-party EULA
DRAGON BALL FighterZ EULA

brownish box on the store page. give it a read. they dont need to do more.

[Kargor]

"EULA" is not a DRM.

If in doubt, you can always post in the game forums, asking whether the DRM that you found mentioned is used on the Steam version as well.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by Kargor:

"EULA" is not a DRM.

said no one ever. you give it a read too ...

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by wuddih:

Originally posted by Kargor:

"EULA" is not a DRM.

said no one ever. you give it a read too ...

Just to be on the same page mate, when people speak of 3rd party DRM on Steam, they mean something that will prevent them to play without an Internet connection or if the 3rd party authentication is down.

EULAs themselves don't hold much water in legal terms, I should know, I've been working for a software company for over 10 years. Best they can do is stop offering support and warranty on the product is you "break" most the EULA agreement. They only get a legal leg to stand on if you start distributing their copyright material, but from then on, the regular copyright laws are all that matter anyway, so EULA is besides the point.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by the_importer:

Originally posted by wuddih:

said no one ever. you give it a read too ...

Just to be on the same page mate, when people speak of 3rd party DRM on Steam, they mean something that will prevent them to play without an Internet connection or if the 3rd party authentication is down.

i not going to start explaining OPs main question too.
OP will find the information he is looking for by following my instructions.

if you want to determine the legal stance of eulas and what they can contain and what not in over 300 different legislations on this planet, go ahead. it works in the relevant places and that is "legally enough".

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by wuddih:

Originally posted by the_importer:

Just to be on the same page mate, when people speak of 3rd party DRM on Steam, they mean something that will prevent them to play without an Internet connection or if the 3rd party authentication is down.

i not going to start explaining OPs main question too.
OP will find the information he is looking for by following my instructions.

if you want to determine the legal stance of eulas and what they can contain and what not in over 300 different legislations on this planet, go ahead. it works in the relevant places and that is "legally enough".

Well OP finds your answers to be some form of trolling, so OP will now ignore you and wait for a more down to earth answer.

Good bye from OP

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Every Eula will tell you if the game has one in use.

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Every Eula will tell you if the game has one in use.

:qr:

So to answer my question: No they don't have to specify on the page itself but they can hide it someone in "legal" terms on the EULA?

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by the_importer:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Every Eula will tell you if the game has one in use.

So to answer my question: No they don't have to specify on the page itself but they can hide it someone in "legal" terms on the EULA?

Correct. Reading the Eulas is required to know what they may or may not use. Pretty standard.

There are things like Enhanced Steam browser add on that does this for you.

[Count_Dandyman]

Originally posted by the_importer:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Every Eula will tell you if the game has one in use.

:qr:

So to answer my question: No they don't have to specify on the page itself but they can hide it someone in "legal" terms on the EULA?

They also don't have to tell you in the EULA which one they use and all the details about how it works only enough for you to know one exists and minimum details about what it checks.

Thats the reason so many users have the idea DRM does way more then it really does they hear paranoia fuelled horror stories and use those to fill in the gaps. Reality is details are not limited because they are doing something they don't want you to know or underhanded instead its all about making it harder for pirates to bypass by not giving them a list of instructions on what to change.

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Correct. Reading the Eulas is required to know what they may or may not use. Pretty standard.

There are things like Enhanced Steam browser add on that does this for you.

:qr:

Interesting add-on, guess I'll fiddle around with it.

Originally posted by Count_Dandyman:

They also don't have to tell you in the EULA which one they use and all the details about how it works only enough for you to know one exists and minimum details about what it checks.

Thats the reason so many users have the idea DRM does way more then it really does they hear paranoia fuelled horror stories and use those to fill in the gaps. Reality is details are not limited because they are doing something they don't want you to know or underhanded instead its all about making it harder for pirates to bypass by not giving them a list of instructions on what to change.

People have every reason to be paranoid in this case. Steam going out of business is one thing (cough *SSE* cough), but if a 3rd party decides to pull the plug on it's DRM system, no one will be able to play certain games again. Sure, Steam will remove the game from the store if the publishers don't do so, but still, refunds will be out of the question by that time.

Steam should force publishers to have this information in the store front page and from then on, have the customers decide. Being scared of piracy is no excuse for duping legit customers. As for me, I just ended up asking for a refund for Pac-Man Championship Edition DX since it doesn't run in offline mode, you get a black screen because it tries to upload your score without Internet access. According to others in the community, this is an unfixed bug, shame because it's a good game.

[Kobi Blade]

The correct answer is NO, but I agree Valve should enforce such policy.

Also, EULAs don't need to include DRM information and rarely do, DRMs have their own EULA.

In the case of FighterZ you can find third-party EULA information under:

24. THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE.

The game uses both Denuvo and EasyAntiCheat.

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by Kobi Blade:

The correct answer is NO, but I agree Valve should enforce such policy.

Also, EULAs don't need to include DRM information and rarely do, DRMs have their own EULA.

In the case of FighterZ you can find third-party EULA information under:

24. THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE.

The game uses both Denuvo and EasyAntiCheat.

Well, guess I'll continue my research with other games in both the EULA and on the forums. Hope all the EULAs use the same spelling for "THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE" or else this is gonna take a while.

Thanks

[ChaosBahamut]

If in doubt, use pcgamingwiki

[Waifu4Life]

Originally posted by ChaosBahamut:

If in doubt, use pcgamingwiki

Nice site, thanks.