Looks like Zoom may have picked up some EA classics.
maybe thats why gog lost ultima underworld etc

A game from 1992 being released as an exclusive in 2021 seems too stupid to be true, but I wouldn't put anything past EA.

I'm not sure why, but I've always been wary of Zoom. This new association with EA, especially if GOG does not get the same deal, only makes me even more wary.

Just to be clear, I own things on Humble Bundle and itch.io as well - I'm not against other DRM-free stores, my spidey sense just tingles when it comes to them in particular.

Especially when they keep selling games that probably shouldn't be sold anymore, i.e. racing games that got pulled from everywhere else due to license expiration.

Stop lying. Some of those games are still available in European stores.

https://giochi.fxinteractive.com/fx/game.php?id=362&Race_Driver_GRID

https://giochi.fxinteractive.com/fx/game.php?id=364&Colin-McRae-Dirt-2

Add to that the fact that a store that manages to pull a deal with the "Evil EA Overlord" still has a 2005 aesthetic and can't even be bothered to put screenshots on the games pages.

But maybe they're really an honest business and they're planning an entire overhaul of their store soon (or they're just another money laundering operation, who knows).

Just wait until they've grown a bit more and in a few years people start shouting "Zoom has betrayed its principles and is now a DRM store"... :P

Thank you for sharing this with us. Very weird to see EA joining a DRM-free game store in 2021, but this sure has some other nasty hook attached to it. Makes you think about the wealth and influence certain individuals behind ZOOM have when they attract a money hungry beast like EA... Bad news for anyone hoping to see more classic EA games here, like me :/. Cheers

lolwut
I keep thinking the big-heads up top are out of touch, but these decisions keep being made, maybe there is actual profit to be had.

Pfft. It doesn't make the situation any more legal if stores play the intentional ignorance card.

so the cut-off point is 1994 to not make it stupid?

(https://www.gog.com/game/theme_park)

Given the fact that Zoom is not backed by a development/publishing studio, it wouldn't surprise me if it was bought off later if it ever grew bigger.

EA having some of their roster there seems like a "reconnaissance" move, and to keep a close eye on it.

In any case, based on the above, Zoom's future seems more unstable than GOG's.

Pretty much how I feel about Zoom too, too much about the site seems... off, and a deal with EA of all companies isn't alleviating any of that wariness. I could easily see Zoom being bought out or folding.

I don't know what the details are with this partnering between Zoom Platform and EA, or which EA games may be coming to Zoom. It took me completely by surprise, especially when EA have just removed some games from GOG. Perhaps they are looking to switch to a different DRM-free store, because they don't want the overhead of having to support the Galaxy client?

I'm not the biggest fan of EA, but if they release their games DRM-free on Zoom Platform, then I will buy them. If that's your 'spidey-sense' then fair enough. Imo though, all of the suspicion I see towards Zoom Platform seems completely unjustified. I follow the Zoom Platform Discord channel quite closely. They have taken down a couple of games recently due to expiring licenses, so as far as I can see, they are playing things totally by the book. Afaik, they have valid licenses for Duke Nukem, Racedriver Grid. In the case of Duke Nukem, they apparently negotiated a perpetual license to sell it with the previous owner, which Gearbox are legally bound to honor.

This has all been discussed here ad nauseum.

Very nice. Any boost to zoom-platform is good, as long as they stay true to 100% DRM-free. Unlike GOG.

Yes they recently took down Alien Trilogy due to licence rights.
Apparently they are working with RWS and will have an announcement very soon, I think they are getting a custom build of Postal 2.