GOG.com, a site that focuses on offering DRM free digital downloads of popular video games expanded its offerings to include movies. With very few (and in many cases no) options for purchasing movies with DRM included, GOG is hoping to carve out a niche among those who are dedicated to keeping their media as unencumbered as possible.
Currently, the site offers just under two dozen films, all of which are about games, technology, and internet culture, but the company has high hopes for the future. One company that GOG has been working with is Devolver Digital, which is offering three of its films: Pixel Poetry, a documentary about the creative and artistic culture that surrounds games, Good Game, a competitive gaming documentary featuring Evil Geniuses’ Starcraft team, and The Art of Playing (available for free), a gaming based episode of the PBS series Arts in Context.
Devolver is incredibly enthusiastic about this venture, and especially the doors that it will open for independent filmmakers.Devolver Digital executive Mike Wilson says “we believe that the sophistication, discovery, and community that exists within PC games platforms such as GOG can really help to elevate all the great filmmaking independent talent out there in the same way that it has for indie game developers. We are very excited to be a part of this launch and hope to place all of our 75+ independent films on GOG, DRM-free, eventually”
GOG’s stated goal for the project is to “offer you cinema classics as well as some all-time favorite TV series with no DRM whatsoever,” but all the studios they’ve contacted have been trepidatious about being the first to take the leap. Hopefully this initial offering will be enough to allay their fears because, as anyone who has tried to move music or ebooks from one brand of device to another, managing a library of DRM protected content can be an incredible headache.
You can read GOG’s full announcement here.