GOG.com launching DRM-free film initiative with 20 gaming-focused documentaries

Online digital game retailer GOG.com is extending its DRM-free philosophy to movies, kicking off the initiative today with 20 documentaries focused on video games and gaming culture.

GOG.com's new DRM-free Movie section will launch with a handful of world premieres — documentaries including The King of Arcades, Gamer Age and Pixel Poetry — as well as award-winning films like Indie Game: The Movie. Two titles, Art of Playing and TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard, will be available for free. All movies can be downloaded or streamed for viewing, and GOG.com is promising the addition of more titles every week.

According to a statement from GOG, the company is now aiming to bring major Hollywood studios on board and add their movies to the DRM-free catalog. But most studios, said GOG.com North American vice president Guillaume Rambourg, want to see how successful the program is first before jumping on the bandwagon.

"Our initial idea was to start with the big guys, but the process is not easy," said Rambourg. "In our first round of talks, the response was largely, ‘We love your ideas, but we do not want to be the first ones. We will gladly follow, but until somebody else does it first, we do not want to take the risk'." Most studio officials agreed that DRM is pointless, but were quick to add that the lawyers would not allow them to get rid of it."

Additionally, GOG.com announced that it will begin taking local currencies other than the U.S dollar, including euros, British pounds sterling, Australian dollars and Russian rubles.