[lifeformed]

That's just a side effect of their business model - it's fairly evident that it's a higher priority for them to provide a great user experience than to lock them down.

Just yesterday I was reminded of this, when reformatting my computer and reinstalling everything. I forgot to deactivate keys on some of my work software before doing so, and spent hours emailing to get them back. Meanwhile, the whole license/ownership concept of all my games on Steam was completely abstracted away through their install-anywhere-as-many-times policy and Steam Cloud.

[Ntrails]

One day I hope that I will be able to link all my DvDs and music and films into a steam style library, and stop caring about backing them up, and keeping the sodding disks.

Regardless of horror stories about banned accounts, the steam model is one I find infinitely more attractive than even itunes.

[reitzensteinm]

My cofounder lost about a thousand dollars worth of games when he bought Left 4 Dead 2 via PayPal.

PayPal, as it sometimes does, reversed the transaction due to its fraud detection systems, through no fault or instruction of my cofounder.

So Steam locked the entire account, permanently and irreversibly. It wasn't even an option to pay the $50 by another method.

I still buy Steam games, but only on sale.

[petitmiam]

This sounds extreme. What was the response from steam technical support?

[reitzensteinm]

That was the response from Steam technical support.

They were basically assuming fraud; which is what buying a game, receiving the goods, then issuing a chargeback (or PayPal equivalent) would be.

He patiently explained to them that it wasn't initiated by him, but they pretty much stonewalled him.

Apparently having done a thousand dollars worth of business already without incident wasn't enough to get the benefit of the doubt.

[olliesaunders]

Someone else could do this right now. That could be a reasonable startup idea. I’m not experienced enough to know but this seems like it could be in the ballpark of sounding like a bad idea but not being (akin to what PG describes in his black swan essay).

[wmf]

UltraViolet is supposed to be that, although it's taking a while to get going.

[doesnt_know]

I just had to register to point out that your statement about the " install-anywhere-as-many-times" blanket policy is incorrect. It's true that all of Valve's games do this and it also might be true that all the new software (not games) being added will need to follow this policy (I'm not sure). It certainly isn't true for large amounts of AAA games already on Steam though.

Developers and publishers are allowed to add any DRM they want on top of Steam, and frequently do. So you can purchase something through Steam, which can have Securom, Tages, Windows LIVE or any other DRM scheme. This includes limited machine installations which sometimes offer deactivation, but only if you specifically uninstall and deactivate them. So in your reformatting use-case, depending on what games you have purchased, you may end up in the same situation.

Basically, you incorrectly assumed Steam is an alternative to other DRM measures, when in fact it's quite often[1] used on top of other DRM schemes. If you don't believe me, simply check the store pages of most major Ubisoft[2] titles. I just picked Anno 2070 (because I know it has it) and in the infobox on the right hand side:

3rd-party DRM: Solidshield Tages SAS 3 machine activation limit

[1]Among AAA titles that is, I have yet to see it in any indie titles. [2]Pretty much the worst player in the industry when it comes to DRM.

[lifeformed]

That's true; I don't purchase many AAA games so I don't experience that much. It is pretty annoying having GFWL on top of Steam.

As an indie developer on Steam, I can't see any non-AAA games ever using additional DRM. We're just in it for the convenience of distribution.