Shocker: Valve's Gabe Newell says most DRM is 'dumb'

by Christopher Grant { Dec 3rd 2008 at 7:45PM }

Not everyone knows this but, here at Joystiq we're not just a gaming blog – bringing you all the latest, breaking news on stuff like Mario boxer shorts – we're also a world-class PC gaming consultancy. Yup. PC gaming publishers come to us and say, "Joystiq, how do we – the titans of video game publishing – compete in the piracy-laden graveyard of PC gaming?" And we respond simply; "Copy Valve."

We don't mean make a product that's sort of like Steam, or is influenced by Steam – we mean make Steam! Change one letter. Stream? Steem? Whatever, just make it. Bonus points if you change your company's name to Valfe or perhaps Vålve. While most PC gaming companies – except a few notable exceptions – continue to flail in the face of technological progress (read: the internet), Valve continues making amazing games, releasing an incredible platform, and bundling many of their technologies together for competing developers ... for free.

So when Valve chieftain Gabe Newell addresses the kingdom, it's customary for us to take notes (remember: we'll sell these notes later). In response to a customer email inquiring as to the extent of Valve's relationship with EA (and, by proxy, validating EA's continued use of onerous DRM on PC games), Newell responded, "As far as DRM goes, most DRM strategies are just dumb." Incredible, no? There's no equivocation; no hesitation. DRM=dumb. Ah, but notice that qualifier: "most." Of course, Valve's very own Steam client is rife with DRM which Newell puts this way: "The goal should be to create greater value for customers through service value (make it easy for me to play my games whenever and wherever I want to)." When's the last time you heard someone complain about Steam's DRM? And when was the last time you pirated a game over Steam? Bill's in the mail, folks.

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: DRM, Gabe-Newell, Valve

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

maylon @ Dec 3rd 2008 7:54PM

And when was the last time you pirated a game over Steam? Bill's in the mail, folks.

Yesterday.

Donald @ Dec 3rd 2008 7:56PM

There are not enough "..." to express my "..." at that.

Marrvia @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:55PM

Yes, it's possible to pirate on Steam, but it is still a pain in the ass. Steam is the best thing right now to combat piracy, but not 100% affective.

I think the best way it kill piracy on PC at least for a short time is to move all future games to blu-ray format, and put all game on these new 400gb discs and inflate the game sizes to fill the disc. Very few people are going to want to download one game that is 400gb.

Arnon @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:36PM

Yeah right.. and then it will only cost developers 16x the amount to fill up a 400gb disc. THEN it will be 16x the amount to BUY one of these games.

BananaBoat @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:06PM

It's not as difficult as one might think. Just like with all DRM, pirates quickly put out the DRM free version, and people set up free servers for their fellow swashbucklers to play on. Really it is no more difficult than pirating anything else.

Value added is the key here though. For instance, if your HDD crashes, you can re-download all of your games via steam, as long as you can get into your account. Unlike EA, they don't even limit how many times you can reinstall (or atleast they didn't used to. If they do now, I take this statement back). Then you add the functionality of making updates quick and painless, making friends lists between games painless, and the service becomes almost as good as a no-drm solution (nothing beats Un-DRM'd content, I don't care how much value they add).

Marrvia @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:26PM

Arnon, why do you think it would cost 16 times as much to make the game if the size was articially increased to 400gb? All they'd have to do is add a bunch of encrypted dummy files to the game, and somehow make the game unplayable without the files. That wouldn't cost anything. I could easily build a 400gb file on my computer in 2 minutes. Yes the discs would cost more, but you know what? Seeing as 80% of the pc games being played right now are pirated copies, i think it would be wise investment of the game developers to cut that number to 1% and they could actually lower game prices and still make more money than they make now.

Yes, the people who actually buy all of their pc games would suffer a little bit because they'd all have to buy blu-ray drive, but in the end, the companies would make more money and more effort would be made into making more big games on pc.

Vicente @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:37PM

Until pirates crack that hardware/software release and then we have to buy new GreenRay drives, right?

inflating installs to 400 GB does nothing -- the fluff can easily be stripped out.

GD-ROM games were on 1.4 GB discs -- pirates got Dreamcast games down below the 700 MB limit nearly every time, not the least of which was stripping the fluff and dummy files from a game.

This is still, mind you, a solution employed by many release groups.

kaneda26 @ Dec 4th 2008 12:13AM

I bought Orange Box for PS3, but downloaded to play portal on my PC. Pirating it was as easy as downloading the iso and installing the cracked version.

BananaBoat @ Dec 4th 2008 1:59AM

The idea that if you bought it on one platform that you own it in across all platforms is one that continually baffles me. People never thought "well, I own this on VHS, so I should have the right to a free DVD copy" but people think they can have Oblivion, Portal, etc on the PC as long as they pay for it on the 360? Where do people get off thinking that way?

wickedpheonix @ Dec 4th 2008 2:02AM

You guys are forgetting one small problem with the 400 GB idea - no one's going to install 400 GB worth of data to their machine, simply because the vast majority of people don't have drives big enough to do that (although they are cheap now). Even if most people did, it's going to take waaaay too long to copy over 400 GB onto the drive, install times are going to take days or something.

Haggard @ Dec 4th 2008 3:02AM

What wickedphoenix says is right. My 320GB hard drive might complain a bit.

John @ Dec 4th 2008 1:45PM

@ Bananaboat:

"Where do people get off thinking that way?"

They get off at the same place that developers think that people should have to buy 2 copies of a game to play it on multiple computers.

The same place that developers get off thinking that they offer crap in a box with no return policy, knowing that if the marketing department does a good enough job, that said shit will still fly off the shelves while truly good game makers get screwed because they have lesser marketing.

The same place that publishers think it's ok to cripple people's hardware and legally purchased programs because they MIGHT be used to pirate something.

If I am indeed only "renting" the software like a lot of publishers/devs think, then I am renting the experience, not the particular media upon which it is delivered, and therefore, yes I should get to play it on any platform it is released on. Movie companies are finally starting to realize this by including digital copies with a lot of bluray/DVD sales.

BananaBoat @ Dec 4th 2008 4:25PM

You pirating it (and thus contributing to their hyper inflated numbers of how much profit they've lost due to pirates) only contributes to the problem of DRM. Yes, they've screwed consumers with DRM, but pirating a copy of something that doesn't belong to you (as if it didn't take any effort or money to port to another platform...) is not justified. Sure, morally it may feel better to buy it on one platform and then play it on any platform you want (instead of pirating it on all platforms) but it's really just as bad.

The future may be "Buy a license, play it on whatever you want", but that isn't the reality of today. The DVD/digital copy argument doesn't hold, because there is very little cost associated with turning a VOB into an MP4 or whatever container they use for their digital copies. On the other hand, porting a game between the 360, the PS3, and the PC, could cost millions.

I hate DRM (with a passion) but I'm not so far gone as to forget that we brought it upon ourselves (well, I didn't, I don't steal, period. I just get to be negatively impacted by those that do, and treated like a thief even though I pay for my games)

Marrvia @ Dec 4th 2008 7:21PM

Vicente, the files wouldn't be just fluff, they would have all kinds of encrypted code in them that the game would require the files are an exact size and have the unknown code in them in order for the game to be played. Since the many lines of required code would be unknown, it would be impossible search the 400gb of fluff to find which is the correct code to get the game to run. And the game would require play from disc only, with only maybe a few select files installed to the hard drive(yes, games would run a little slower, but it is the cost of doing business).

And after that even if it was cracked, and people wanted to download the game illegally, they would first have to download the 400gb, which few would want to do.

Obviously, it is just an idea though. It is not about making the game totally crack-proof, it's about making the game size so big that it would turn many pirates off to the idea of downloading such an enormous game.

idiot @ Dec 3rd 2008 7:54PM

gaaah waarrgarbl...that's all I think of when I look at that picture, I can't even make it to the article

Roto13 @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:00PM

That guy has many, many chins.

But the article is worth reading. :P

343 Guilty Fart @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:05PM

It looks like Gordon Freeman had too many donuts.

JerJer @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:51PM

if that guy is the face of valve i have just put my dream of a giant lollipop fountain as the main talent at valve to rest for eternity :(

CynicalStrike @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:28PM

Is the L4D Boomer a direct homage to him, vomiting multitudes of ideas from his polychinned face?

Master Bruce @ Dec 4th 2008 1:08PM

Yeah, I admit my first thought on seeing this post was "hey, another overweight programmer griping about DRM! Is this slashdot?"

Haggard @ Dec 4th 2008 1:57PM

To be fair this is a fairly old picture of him. I saw an interview in a PC magazine a month or two ago and he looked a lot better.

But at the end of the day, he's the genius making the most critically acclaimed games of all times, and sleeping on a bed of money.

Deck @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:00PM

Steam is efficient, smooth, and looks pretty. All things that contribute to make it great.

Yeah its stacked with DRM, but being able to download/install through steam, launch through steam and do that repeatedly as long as you are logged into your account, makes it all work so well that it doesn't bother me.

Azerael @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:00PM

Steam also has this great feature where it doesn't destabilise your computer if you install one of it's games.

Oh and I like the part where you can run DVD burning tools and Steam on the same computer. That's really generous of them.

nutchos @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:02PM

He's made some great games in the past but guy needs to lose some weight.

Doug @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:34PM

WHO CARES? honestly.

chispito @ Dec 4th 2008 12:51AM

Well, the healthier he is the more games he can make, right?

Haggard @ Dec 4th 2008 3:21AM

I never thought of it that way.

Lee @ Dec 4th 2008 5:48AM

Obese man dies young = no more games from Gabe.
Obese man gets healthy = more games from Gabe.

"who cares"... The people who want to play more games from this genius.

gsun @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:06PM

I've always thought that Steam was a great way to distribute games, since you can just download them all wherever the hell you are(school, work, on the plane), with no limits.

M @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:09PM

Left 4 Dead and the Orange Box were the first PC Games I legitimately purchased since buying Half-Life: GOTY Edition in 1999.

I think that says it all right there.

Ihavepants @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:12PM

That you're a pirate?

(Not flaming you for it, but really that's all it says... unless you just havn't played any PC games or have moved over to consoles)

Wiinterfang @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:24PM

"YO HO HO he took a bite of gum gum".

Foetoid @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:52PM

LOL Wiinterfang!!!

ratm @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:03PM

Same. They are definitely doing something right.

Jimiisama @ Dec 4th 2008 11:50PM

Yep, very few games are worth the money.

Jeff @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:11PM

Shocker: DRM says most Gabe Newell is 'fat'

Ignatius @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:12PM

Most of Gabe Newell's chins take offense to DRM's statements.

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:14PM

I have to say this. I want to buy more PC games. But SecuRom attacks my computer resources something fierce if it even works at all and tech supports solution is to remove functionality from my system and software purchased to run a game. Meanwhile, games even put on Steam (GTAIV, Bioshock) still include SecuRom. My official stance is until THAT program gets removed, I'm not buying your games. So even on steam things are not safe.

I really hope Dawn of War II ships SecuRom free.

talkjack @ Jan 29th 2009 8:36AM

Hell yeah! Vote with your wallet, its all they seem to understand!

mr bean @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:19PM

BOOMER!!!!!!!!!!-------splut!!!!!!!!!!

Vidikron @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:28PM

He's a bit of a hypocrite. Steam itself is DRM... AND some of the games distributed through Steam have additional 3rd party DRM.

Vidikron @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:31PM

I forgot to answer these:

"When's the last time you heard someone complain about Steam's DRM?"

Today.

"And when was the last time you pirated a game over Steam?"

Not me personally, but basically every game on Steam can be found on the net.

SGT Grumbles @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:34PM

Yeah, but Steam doesn't limit how many times you can install, install unwanted rootkits, etc. It doesn't even pose much of a block to pirates. It prevents some piracy by being extremely convenient and easy to use.

Also Valve can't control 3rd party DRM. It's not up to them.

Vidikron @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:46PM

They certainly can control the 3rd party DRM. They can simply take a hard line and demand that games ditributed via Steam must not contain additional DRM. But in the end they'll take the money rather than take that stand... Gabe will just talk about the evils of DRM on the side.

Arnon @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:39PM

You also forgot to read the article correctly.. He states that MOST DRM's are dumb.. not all.

Vidikron @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:44PM

Trust me, some of the ones being distrubted via Steam ARE dumb.

kaneda26 @ Dec 4th 2008 4:31PM

If you think about it, Steam can be considered DRM in the same way that Xbox Live Arcade games are. I would consider the xbox to be even more strict because you can't play the game on any other device but the xbox. And in the case the live goes away (not likely I know) do you really think MS is gonna let you be able to copy the games for backup?