Skyrim arrives on GOG, going DRM-Free

Part of this doubt comes from the fact that GOG releases games DRM-Free. DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology is generally the standard for most modern games. This is used as a form of protection to prevent misuse copyrighted and proprietary products, particularly electronic goods like apps and games online. But DRM also often requires using these products only while the user is online.

Platforms like Steam and Epic Games apply DRM more often than not. But this also causes some frustrations with costumers, particularly when they are unable to play games offline or when technical issues with the platforms prevent them from doing so.

On the other hand, GOG has a DRM-Free policy as its general standard for the digital goods available on their platform. Aside from not requiring being always online, GOG takes additional steps to ensure their games work on most modern machines and have separate offline installers available.

GOG makes the release of Skyrim DRM-Free extra special by timing it with the platform's 14-year celebrations. As the press release on GOG.com reads: From its very beginning, GOG has been dedicated to making games last forever – by fixing classic titles to keep them playable on modern PCs, and preserving both new and old games by making them DRM-free – so there's never a need, now or in the far future, for remote servers to validate ownership.

Now it is time to celebrate the 14 years of these efforts – by releasing one of the most anticipated games by the community – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and launching the Anniversary event full of great deals and other surprises. During the period of the anniversary sale, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be available at big discounts. The Special Edition version will have a 67% discount ($13.19) and the Anniversary Edition will be at 50% ($24.99). After the duration, they will be priced at $39.99 and $49.99, respectively.

While the Special Edition has the full game, the Anniversary Edition has additional functionality and customization options, including the Creation Club feature: The Anniversary Edition includes a decade worth of content: the critically acclaimed core game and add-ons of Skyrim Special Edition, plus entire pre-existing and new content from Creation Club including quests, dungeons, bosses, weapons, spells, and more. Skyrim is one of the most popular games in the modding community. According to the GOG Skyrim store pages, these versions of the game are compatible with Nexus Mods Vortex (v1.6.12 and up), compatible with the SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender) mods and can disable game version rollback and automatic updates.

While GOG has released more recent games, particularly indie productions and those produced by CD Projekt Red (Cyberpunk 2077), the addition of Skyrim was still a surprise. Could this mean more big franchises coming to the platform in the future?

Blizzard's Diablo 1 (including the expansion Hellfire) and Warcraft 1 and 2 are already in the library. Perhaps Diablo 2 or Warcraft 3 are now within reach? And what about Fallout 4 (2015) also from Bethesda? Perhaps in a few more years.

In the meantime, gamers can grab a free giveaway, Master of Magic, (until October 2nd, 10 PM UTC) and check out discounted games during GOG's 14th anniversary which runs to October 9, 2022.