Steam competitor Good Old Games is introducing movies to its DRM-free digital distribution platform. Users can stream or download from the company’s collection of game- and tech-related documentaries. Good Old Games expects to add more movies on a weekly basis. The company believes that the reason many people pirate content is because it is the most user-friendly way to access video. By introducing movies on a DRM-free platform, the company hopes to increase availability and ease of use.

“GOG says that it offered major studios to get in on the action but that they weren’t interested in being part of the first wave — they’d rather someone else gnaw on the rock and prove that selling DRM-free movies works,” reports Engadget.

Studios are naturally hesitant to give up DRM based on intellectual property concerns.

“Their reaction was kind of funny because… they know that DRM doesn’t work because every single movie is on torrent sites or illegal places at launch or even before,” said Marcin Iwinski, CD Projekt RED and GOG joint-CEO. 

GOG is pushing the point that owning the physical DVD is actually inconvenient, and a digital version is easier.

“One of Blu-ray’s biggest advantages over streaming or a digitally distributed movie, however, is quality: each disc can hold between 25GB and 50GB of uncompressed audio and video data,” notes Engadget. “By comparison, the Pirate Bay documentary GOG is offering weighs in around 8GB and only plays in stereo — not 5.1 surround sound. But that doesn’t bother Iwinski; he seems focused on hitting people that are more likely to watch ‘Gravity’ on their laptop or mobile device than in a home theater.”

“You can stream from GOG, but the magic happens when you download the MKV file and you can move it to your iPod and move it to iTunes and it syncs automatically,” he said.