this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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They can't make my physical copy just not be in my physical library anymore. They sure can any digital they wish. At anytime they wish. Digital is crap because you don't actually own it.
It would still be in your library, sure. But that doesn't mean they can't make it not work anymore. It needs to be on physical media and not be required to connect to a server.
I keep seeing this attitude toward physical media like everyone forgot about what happend with The Crew.
And, legally speaking, you don't own the software on the disk, either. You just own the disk.
Did you not read my message? I said I totally get not liking DRM. Which btw can turn physical copies into paperweights too if its Orwellian enough. If a digital copy has no DRM it is even more resilient than physical because most physical copies do have DRM that prevents making backup copies.
Hard disagree. Did you read my message? I said they can't just make my physical copy disappear from my library. My physical library. Never in my life have i had a physical copy not play flawless when i put it in. Had to give the old carts a blowy every now and then but never did they not work. Never.
Also drm has nothing to do with a company pulling digital access. Nothing.
They can't delete digital copies I have downloaded either.
Sure they may not let you download a new copy in 50 years, but your physical copy is probably going to be fucked by then too. At least my digital copy could have been backed up and copied to multiple different storage devices. Your physical copy almost certainly has some kind of copy protection that prevents you from making a backup.
This isn't actually true with GoG though. They can delist the game from their store, but if you already have it downloaded then you have it for as long as you maintain your digital files
Would that not be considered a physical copy then? It's physically on your drive and not a digital license.
I wouldn't, it's not technically "physically" on your drive.
Like, the real benefit of physical media is that it is separate from the medium you use to view it on. If your blu-ray player breaks, you still have your disks. If your computer breaks, you might not be able to recover those files and then they would be lost forever. Maybe if you have an external backup that can be disconnected from your system? That I'd be closer to considering physical media, since it can be disconnected from the medium.
If you really wanna fall down a rabbit hole though, what's the difference between an installation server being taken down, and a disc you own getting smudged and becoming unreadable? In both cases, your access to the media you "own" was lost due to factors outside your control.
I mean, you can, but it has to be DRM free like GOG, and has to be able to run independent of the launcher.
then again, even if you do own it, doesn't mean you can install/run it without code updates. part of the genius of GoG is they include the update/emulation code to make old games run on modern hardware and OS w/o having to hack it yourself or download some mod from some repository that might be malware.