So… Is this a good thing? Bad thing? Gut reaction says that probably not the greatest for GOG, being detached from a huge publisher like CD Projekt probably isn’t great for a niche marketplace. In their faqs it states that GOG had a strong year financially but they would of course bill it that way. The question about why the new owner did so also just sounded disingenuous.
Interested to see where this goes from here. While I love gog and am a patron, their Linux support leaves a lot to be desired. The sole fact that cloud saves are such a pain to get working has led me to switch back to steam. I hope with these changes they can maybe get some support on Linux.
Well, I guess at the very least it’s making a good argument for their patron donation thing.
The more someone says nothing is changing and everything is going to be ok, the more I think something nasty is going on.
“Don’t worry about” is the primary reason to start worrying.
Last year I played 56 Polish games on Steam.
This year I switched to Linux and to playing on GoG (a Polish company) exclusively.
Now this acquisition, still by a Pole, happens and it only sounds good to me.
One more round of Zubrowka for everyone!
Poland is so cool. They have such a burgeoning games industry.
Why are they so good at it, whereas the bigger and economically stronger Germany not as good?
The majority of Polish kids in my old school are unbelievably good with computers. My friend’s dad is also a self-taught electronic and IT specialist.
Now, I am really curious as to why so many Poles are tech wiz. I know GOG’s DRM-free philosophy is influenced by communism, but I can’t see how communism influenced many Poles to be good with IT as well.
I am mostly attracted by their art direction in sci-fi and lovecraftian titles.
Having names such as Beksinski and Lem in their culture I feel plays a huge role.
Also, look at Polish movie posters. They had real pop avant-garde as late as the 1980s.
A weak theory, but Poland being one of a handful of countries with a reasonable claim to “inventing” the computer probably helps, mostly indirectly. When deciding to invest in tech education things like that can make a big difference by stoking some national pride. The UK has absolutely benefited from Turing’s legacy keeping us involved in tech (despite everything).
This year I switched to Linux and to playing on GoG (a Polish company) exclusively.
I would do the same, but GoG support for Linux is so bad :(
I use Heroic Games Launcher and have no reason to complain.
But no achievements and no cloud saves…
Cloud saves are experimental on Heroic but in my experience they mostly work.
Achievements are something I never gave a shit about, but I think they should be working with the same upload.
yeah, just use Heroic. we don’t actually need GoG to give us a client.
best I can do is Dęmbowe mochne
Least nationalist European /s
Witcher 4 will be an Epic Games and console exclusive, won‘t it?
They say CD Projekt will keep releasing games on GOG.
Yeah, but everytime a company gets sold, they always say a bunch of shit that always ends up being lies.
not saying that is happening here, but it happen oftens enough that I just don’t believe anything.
If I’m not being Pollyanna, my guess would be to guarantee being privately owned so it’s not even questioned to get public, like Valve. Since the owners don’t exactly change here. Sadly, can’t say the same for CDPR.
Completely offtopic, but just saying Pollyanna causes me emotional turmoil thanks to the Earthbound Tribute for the 20th anniversary… 11 years ago, which means Earthbounds now 31 years old. .
Which…Combining the tribute, with the fact its 11 years old, just critically hits me for psychic and emotional damage.
This is… a thing? I really can’t tell whether this is a step towards stability or volatility for GOG. I love the mission, I love having an alternative to stream, but it needs to last. It’s GOG financially viable? Good question, no one really knows.
It’s GOG financially viable? Good question, no one really knows.
All CDPR earnings reports put GOG revenue/profits in its own separate section, so it’s actually very knowable: It hasn’t been losing money in the last few years but its profits are basically negligible compared to the rest of CDPR studio’s profits.
Thanks for clarification!
What it means for you
What does it mean for Red Candle Games?
Why is this happening if nothing at all is changing and everything is sunshine and butterflies.
so if i’m reading right, prior to transaction CDPR owned shares of GOG. MK owned shares of CDPR. post to transaction, MK will own shares of CDPR and GOG. My question for GOG, CDPR and MK as i know y’all are on this thread: I want to know the nitty gritty financial and structural details of the transaction if you are comfortable sharing please i am a wonk for that sort of thing
Nobody from CDPR is on this thread, lol. This isn’t Reddit.
My question for GOG, CDPR and MK as i know y’all are on this thread:
None of the above are on or anywhere near this thread.
its you Johnny Good Old Games don’t lie
I want it away from all megacorps. The moment the non “old” games get off the platform, I’ll be inclined to give them money again.
I fail to see the problem with having modern games on there? It’s still the same DRM free platform regardless.
Plus, for a large part those older games where also made by mega corps of the day, some still around others faded away, but hardly a collection of indi devs across the board.
Stop, stop! He’s already dead!
So your issue is drm free games that are… still currently popular? Oh, the horror. We must shield this child from the passage of time, for they believe ‘things were better when’ and ‘I already took my pills!’
The name of the site is Good Old Games. I have no problem with a separate marketplace for Non-DRM current games. I don’t see a reason to give a large company money - especially in a world where eXoDOS and eXoWin9x exist.
They removed the explicit Good Old Games abbreviation back in 2012. It’s just GOG.com now.
So where are you getting your current (let’s say released in the last decade, just to be generous), legal, AA/AAA, drm-free games from?
The answer ‘nowhere’ means that you have no viable argument.
I have no interest in A/AA/AAA games in the last decade or so. I also truly don’t give a single crap about “legal”. Copywrong should be fought and all information should be made free at all times. I mean, technically I play games that are current, like Luanti, OpenTTD, Battle for Wesnoth, Mindustry, and Endless Sky. So I’m not in the same sphere.
Hell, as I said above, in a world where eXo exists, GOG needs to do a lot more to justify financial investment.
Did you know that the Ronald McDonald House isn’t just one single house?
How do you feel about that?
Good, they can help more people.
But it’s House. Not Houses.
Is this crime forgivable to von majesty of language?
What an unnecessarily exclusionary take.
They can build a new platform to sell current games in a DRM-free situation. Good Old Games should stick specifically to old games.
and what purpose would that serve lol
dividing resources and confusing people just for what? so you can feel good having a store with the 3 retro pc games that haven’t been gobbled up by microsoft, ea or atari?
if you only want to see retro games, do i have the button for you!
Meh
Why, given “Good Old Games” is no longer the name of the store?
Now that’s very interesting and I really hope it works out for both GOG and the consumer. I definitely prefer not having a storefront directly tied to a specific developer or publisher (Steam/Valve included).
Can Valve be still considered developer?
Yes, they just don’t release every game they work on, or sit on them for longer than most because their finances are no longer dependent on the games they make themselves
They are currently working on Deadlock, which me and my friends play pretty much everyday, so yea I would consider them a developer.
This is an interesting development, for sure - and not one we will be able to accurately gauge the net impact of for a while.
It does feel like CD Project want to move it off their financial documents (P&L, cashflow, balance sheets etc.), while Michael wants to double-down and focus on building out the historical catalog.
Success will really depend on if GOG can remain profitable through lean years without having to ultimately rely on compromising their morals; and whether they will continue to receive support from modern publishers to help fund the more niche projects.
If 2025 has taught me anything, it is to expect the unexpected.
Perhaps this will turn out to be pretty good for everyone?
(maybe not)
So the co-founder of GOG and a co-founder of CDPR saw how GOG was being treated, and acquired it to make it better in theory. I’d love to see how this will go.
As for Linux, I wonder if he already knows about the Linux market. If he does, that’s great, as this is an opportunity for us Linux users.
My heart stopped at reading “GoG is getting acquired”, but that doesn’t sound so bad.
“in a leveraged buyout” was what I expected the next words to be. So at least it’s not that…
This seems like a possibly good move to help make GOG concentrate on being even more G. Hard to see any likely downsides. Seems like a natural step in the maturity of both GOG and CDPR. Hopefully other investors see this the same way.
