Plenty of people hated Steam when it first came out, it was a controversial thing when games started to require it.

Steam has only become as popular as it is because Valve responded to much of that criticism, and improved it enough to become “acceptable” DRM in the minds of most gamers. People defend it because it came to work (mostly) seamlessly and offer additional beneficial features. Unlike many other far jankier platforms/launchers which have been developed with minimum effort as more transparent cash grabs.

A DRM free world be be ideal, but we rarely get an ideal world, so people settle for the least worst instead.