Alan Wake 2 is DRM-free on the Epic Store, with three small caveats

[CheeseBoar]

Just a heads-up, Alan Wake 2 is DRM-free from the Epic Store using the -EpicPortal trick. I'm not planning on reporting on Epic games here, I just wanted to make an exception since a) the game isn't available on Steam, and b) I'm very excited about Alan Wake.

The only issues I'm noticing so far are a) DLC isn't available (it's all only cosmetic for the time being), b) for some reason, a controller doesn't work if you're not using the Epic launcher to run the game, but keyboard/mouse is fine, and c) you can't skip cutscenes if you're not running it through the Epic launcher. The DLC thing I fully understand, because a lot of games work that way, even the DRM-free ones on Steam a lot of the time. For the other two, I'm wondering if the game is throwing anti-piracy measures at me because it thinks I stole it, or something? I'm not sure. Once you're in the game, though, it's playable from beginning to end.

[tauri]

Nice finding!
Man I hate the folks that just assume DRM per default in PCGW without proper testing (as in this case obviously). For example, I'm still not convinced that The Last Of Us isn't DRM-free like Uncharted. Unless you tested this by chance?

[CheeseBoar]

Originally posted by tauri:

Nice finding!
Man I hate the folks that just assume DRM per default in PCGW without proper testing (as in this case obviously). For example, I'm still not convinced that The Last Of Us isn't DRM-free like Uncharted. Unless you tested this by chance?

I haven't been able to test The Last of Us, but I'm dying to, that and God of War. I don't know why Sony would make some games DRM-free and others not, but who knows how they think. At least it seems like more of their games are going to start coming to GOG soon; the God of War and Uncharted pages are already up.

I went ahead and added my findings for Alan Wake 2 to the PCGamingWiki page, though, and hopefully nothing changes with future updates.

EDIT: LOL, literally not even 10 minutes after I made the edit to the Alan Wake 2 PCGamingWiki page, it was undone, and the person who undid it left this note:

"Given the significance of the two caveats listed, EGS version is most definitely NOT DRM-free."

I mean, the whole game is playable without the Epic launcher, and you can even use Steam or another program to map the keyboard and mouse to a controller, which completely negates that caveat, but hey, what do I know?

[tauri]

Jeez...
At first, I could somewhat understand the revert, since the caveats aren't that minor to some people. But then this user even reverted (without explanation) the compromise edit of mine, where I put your info back without changing the DRM symbols.
Now I've confronted him on his talk page, but I think it's futile.
I've been contributing such DRM info on the main page for years, and now I learn it's all wrong :D

edit: Oh, he now added the info below the availibility section "after internal discussion" ...

[CheeseBoar]

Good gravy. Well, at least it's there somewhere, thanks for the backup!

[CheeseBoar]

Just an update for those following this game: Even with the new The Final Draft update, Alan Wake 2 is still DRM-free with the caveats mentioned in the original post. The new content isn't DLC, it's a title update, so all of it works without the Epic launcher.

[coates_0]

Admittedly, I'm late to this thread, but that is an excellent find.

[CheeseBoar]

Originally posted by coates_0:

Admittedly, I'm late to this thread, but that is an excellent find.

I was pretty stoked about it. Really weird caveats, but the game itself works, and that's all that matters.

[CheeseBoar]

For those keeping track, the most recent update to Alan Wake 2 keeps the base game DRM-free, but unfortunately, none of the DLC is recognized; that requires the Epic launcher to be logged in and running.