I legally bought a drm free version of a game some time back.
I also had it tied to somewhere else since I bought it there (also legally of course).
Then when I launched the drm free version of the game.
It got shown as installed also on the other client where I bought it.
They got mixed somehow.
Is the drm free version truly drm free then and how could this happen?
I had to manually move the files to another folder to get the drm free version separated from the other client where I also owned the game.
I did not have it installed before launching the drm free version.
Can anoyone explain this matter to me?
I would be happy to understand.
Thanks :)

Which game?

Which other client?

Where did you install it?

Well, the game is Bleed 2 and I got it from a bundle bought way back from another site selling games (mostly drm free indie games).
It is a well known and respected site. I do not know if I am allowed to post more details here about exactly where.
Inform me if I can.

The client where the game suddenly popped up as installed. Is a well known client. Tell me if I can post about it. Do not know the rules around here. I did not have the game insatlled on that client prior to launching the drm free version that I bought. But I had bought it also on the client, and I had it in my library there.

I have the drm free version and launched the drm free version from my ssd drive where I also have the client I mentioned. I do not have any other ssd or hdd drive to put the drm free version on. But I did not put the drm free version in the same folder as the client. I had it somewhere else on the same ssd drive.

I did not know they could get connected somehow.
And do not understand how.

Itch.io and steam? Yes you can talk about them as long as you don't link to them and aren't perceived as advertising them.

Steam shouldn't be recognizing it unless itch.io does something odd, I'm not familiar with itch. Is the client steam or a different one?

Yes. You are correct. And I have never ever experienced this before.
I think maybe the drm free version (from itch.io) that I bought (in the bundle), had some files in the build that connected it to steam somehow.
But I do not know for sure, and how this works exactly.
Just a thought.

I did not like it at all.
I do not want to connect my drm free games that I bought with game clients without accepting it on my own in a way.
And I had not linked my itch.io to steam. I do not know if it is possible either. But if it is. I have not done that.

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know the game and it isn't available here, so at a guess only, I imagine it might use the Steam client for achievements and or multiplayer, if there is either or both of those. So maybe it automated inclusion into that client to simplify things for the user for those options. That doesn't mean the single player side of things is DRM.

There was a case with one GOG game some time ago which included some Steam library in installation folder which caused Steam client to recognize the game as owned on there and counting time or achievements on Steam profile.

Stuff like that can happen when you're dealing with the same game or similar. It shouldn't, but it does.

Like last week or so I was going to install League of Legends, and downloaded the installer and ran it. It started by wanting to install the Riot Client, which I did after changing the install location. After that it immediately starting installing League of Legends, but it was installing it the location where 'Ruined King: A League of Legends Story' was installed.

So it installed League in my GOG Galaxy Ruined King install folder. Uninstalling League of Legends completely purged the entire folder and I was left with broken Ruined King installs on GOG. Not a big deal to clean up, but guess which got removed and is never coming back? It's not Ruined King. Even after I uninstalled League, and reinstalled Ruined King, the Riot Client was still showing League of Legends being installed in my Ruined King GOG Galaxy folder.

I have this experience with Prince of Persia Sands of Times and the Ubi Client. I own the game in both platforms. The Ubi Client detected my GOG installation and it shows in the Ubi Client but not available to launch but to update. I must understand that if I update the game via client the copy would be converted in a proper Ubi game.

So I must understand that:

-If you have the other client installed
-If you also own the game from the other store
-Maybe if you previouslly installed the game via the other client
-Maybe if you have enabled the respective plugin via Galaxy

then the game is detected by the other client. But it will need to be updated to be functional

No idea if that behaviour is common to every major client or only for the ubi one.

In my experience the GOG version is not touched or modified in any sense, (unless I update the game at will), it is only detected

Solution? well, uninstall the other client if you can't stand with it.

Greetings

Windows programs leave entries in the Windows registry. Usually, you can find these entries in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\
Programs also store settings there, e.g. desktop resolution, location of the program folder, etc.

The client software most likely scans the registry for game entries and adds all "known" games to the launcher.

I shut down the Steam client when I am not playing games from there. This way I avoid silly problems with games bought elsewhere.

Bleed was included in both the Palestinian Aid and Ukraine bundles on itch.

This means that if you have inch's launcher synched to some other launcher, that other launcher will recognize the game being installed if you installed it through itch's launcher.

This isn't that uncommon. Lots of indies, rather than make two completely separate builds just make it so that the version with Steam integration can also function without Steam and then sell that DRM-free. All that's happening is that the bits of Steam integration that would be dormant are instead linking up with Steam since you have it right there.

Essentially, it's nothing to worry about. If it really bothers you anyway you'll have to uninstall Steam or something.

Thanks so much for all the replys.
It was first time this happened for me.
Good to know it can happen/is a common issue.
I do not want to mess things up with my clients.
But if it is nothing to worry about, it is good.
Next time I will start my drm free games that I bought, without having any (other) clients open.