The vast majority of indie games make nothing. The price locking you out isn’t really a valid argument. If the developer lives in an expensive place and needs to charge X to break even, then that’s what they need to do to have a commercially viable product.

New games on GOG often have DRM, because it’s the only way they can compete with Steam.

I hardly see DRM as authoritarianism. No one compels you to play a game, its a luxury. Games are products and need to turn a profit so their creators can eat and create new games.