tfishell: Oh no shit? I thought all DRM was mentioned on the right-side panel. Guess not. :P Oh well maybe they'll come here in the future. What do you think? Also, do you consider having to use the Steam client itself DRM?
DRM-Free is generally not needing a compulsory client at all to play / reinstall a game in future at all after you have the files for the first time. Steam is exceptionally dishonest as to how it advertises games on its own store by only labelling non-Steam DRM as DRM whilst Steam's own 2x layers of DRM are left off giving people the false impression they're unprotected. If they were honest, 94% of games on Steam would have a "This game comes with 1, 2 or 3x layers of DRM" (Steam client check plus CEG and / or Denuvo) in that box, and only 6% (the +1,600 on that list out of +27,000 total catalogue) would actually be DRM-Free. But they don't clearly label games like that for that reason - being completely honest about all forms of DRM there makes the platform as a whole look unappealing vs GOG for those wanting a DRM-Free version due to the sheer scale on which it is implemented (19/20 games inc most AAA's).
Now there's an argument that even if it isn't explicitly sold as DRM-Free, some Steam games can be called DRM-Free if they never need the client running to play or be reinstalled after acquiring the files for the first time even on different hardware. Examples on above list like Portal 1 or Half Life 2. I can personally confirm that if you took such games, zipped them up and unzipped them on a completely new PC that's never had the Steam client installed - they'll work - that's proper DRM-Free functionality almost like a GOG installer). But sadly that's just 6% of Steam's catalogue and excludes most AAA's (including all three you mentioned plus many other popular ones, eg, Bioshock Infinite, Talos Principle, Deus Ex:HR, Skyrim, even Portal 2). Any game that ultimately calls the client to do a DRM-check then refuses to start if the client can't "phone home" to Manage your Digital Right to play (or isn't even running / installed), that's the exact definition of DRM, and the game will refuse to run no different to Denuvo being unable to authenticate. The real two main reasons Denuvo is disproportionately disliked more are 1. Greater performance impact, and 2. Harder to crack. But Steam's own DRM (both the basic "IF CLIENT = NOT RUNNING THEN QUIT" and CEG (which actually locks games .exe's to motherboards) are just as much DRM as Denuvo.
I suspect it's long been part of Steam's game plan to 'normalize' Steam DRM to the point where most Steam users don't want to see it for what it is simply because "it's convenient vs the alternatives" (eg, GFWL or install limits), and then start to falsely confuse "I don't notice Steam's DRM" with "DRM-Free", but that "convenience" still doesn't make most DRM'd Steam games, DRM-Free. The real "Steam DRM-Free" litmus test is - zipping up the game folders and unzipping them on another PC with different hardware that's never had the Steam client installed.
