My take on the whole ordeal is that GOG really doesn't know what is it doing in any aspect really. It's as though they just stumble around aimlessly trying the next this or that for a cash-grab. So, DRM-free to them one day means one thing, then a different thing on another. Now, I'm glad I have the opportunity to purchase DRM-free titles, but I'm not thankful per se. GOG is a business. They don't go out of their way to do any favors for anyone. Money exchanges hands so to speak, so I don't need to be thankful. I guess my point is GOG fosters this false atmosphere of a community setting, all the while just taking cash and adhering to their bottom line....more cash. As for online multiplayer, I have no interest whatsoever, but I'm sure many do. There are also many averse to Galaxy. So at the end of the day, GOG does as GOG wants regardless because they can. I think what irritates me most though is all the bs we here you, we're listening, blah, blah, blah. Before they offer any other avenues of playing, it would behoove them to have a functional website, timely support, and just a generally better client for people who want a client. But no, everything is always half-arsed.

So? That's like saying that because both a hitman and a doctor make money from what they do, you shouldn't expect anything different from them. Sure, a business needs to make money. That's as true as people in general having to make money. That's how our society works. That doesn't mean that it's purely about money. Most people open a specific business not just because they think there's an opening in the market for it, but because it's something that appeals to them.

A business is made of people, and if the business is doing something that you think is right, this typically mean that the people there care, to some extent, about that. (A business has a lot of people, and they change, so what "the company thinks" can change, but still...) Yes, there is always the natural desire for a business to continue to thrive, and this includes having to make decisions about how to make money and how to spend it, and this often means compromising on the vision.

Our job as consumers who want a company to take a specific direction is, first of all, to make sure they know our opinion, and hopefully also to provide an argument of why the business might be better off going this way.

As for being thankful, I don't feel the need to thank GOG for transactions. I don't even feel the need to thank GOG for free game promotions. But I'm thankful that GOG exists and helped return a lot of old games to us, and encourages DRM-free games. GOG put a lot of work into this, and I'm thankful for that work and for going this way. I want GOG to continue in the same direction, precisely because that's something that I appreciate and am thankful for.

This is bizarre. GOG is simultaneously saying that they are going to allow DRM-encumbered games onto their store while at the same time claiming to have a "DRM-free approach". Is the 'approach' that they prefer DRM-free but will sometimes just go for DRM games anyway?

In any case, I think it's important to acknowledge that multiplayer games can still be DRM free. For example, I was using my GOG version of Terraria to play a multiplayer game over the internet yesterday. That game is DRM free because players are free to host their own servers. So to argue that online games are a separate category that somehow cannot be DRM free is untrue.

GOG should uphold a DRM free stance all games, regardless of whether they are played online. Letting some DRM games through invites confusion and disappointment; and severely weakens the push for DRM free games.

This cannot be quoted enough. So many people completely fail to grasp this concept.

I'm completely fine with online-only games on GOG as long as these games do not require the GOG login to play them and we can host our own servers. Otherwise this is just the backdoor to introduce DRM on GOG on an even wider scale.

I don’t know how comfortable I feel about this. In this post, gog brings up game preservation as one of their core goals. I’m not sure how dependence on a 3rd party server, which is out of their control and can render a game unplayable, is compatible with that. In order to bring a multiplayer only game into compliance with their vision and philosophy, it must not be dependent on a 3rd party to function in its full capacity.

The DRM-free litmus test I use is this: "Can this game/content be played to its full extent for the foreseeable future if the internet disappeared tomorrow?" Some multiplayer games can meet this test if they can be played completely on a LAN with no internet connection. Games that require the internet to unlock single player features or facilitate multiplayer connections do not.

If gog is struggling monetarily, I do not believe abandonment of core principles will help. If we have to deal with all of this uncertainty regarding what gog considers DRM, it will just push more people onto platforms like steam.

Stick with your principles first otherwise you weaken your brand and your differentiation in the market.

If you want to make more money, offer more games and fully support linux when there is a linux build. There are at least 10 games I’d buy right now, but for some odd reason didn’t make it past curation or don’t have a linux release on gog (but are available on linux elsewhere). These are quality games too, not just crappy shovel ware.

I'm more of a singleplayer gamer, but occassionally, I do like to play with a handful of friends (or strangers!).

That said, above all else, the main reason I joined GOG is to support DRM-free gaming. I do not mind that multiplayer games make it to the catalog but only if their offline installers include versions of said games that allow players to independantly host their own multiplayer servers or to play via direct ip. For example, Terraria allows this. This way I am not dependant on GOG or any other server service should they experience downtime or extinction. True DRM-free means that I can still play my singleplayer games along with their multiplayer component, no matter what.

Here's a prime example of what I do not like and what I am presently experiencing: recently, No Man's Sky received an update and for many, this broke it's multiplayer component. It is surely bug-related. But I have not been able to join a friend to play with me since, because No Man's Sky multiplayer component is dependant on an external server service which I can't currently connect to. But if the game were truly DRM-free, it would have allowed me to host an in-game multiplayer server or to connect with my friend via direct ip.

Possibly this post might be better assessed by GOG management if you listed those ten games you mention?
Mine was Good Old Games and game preservation. GOG made (makes) a great effort to make old games playable in new computers. It was the best thing that had happened to PC games, with permission from HOTU. Then they brought loads of new games, always without DRM. It was good since (and as long as) the other side is not neglected. Nowadays, one leg helps the other and the two advance together. It cannot be much better than this.

RIP GOG. You were great. Some years ago. This was probably always coming, and I've warned against it for oh so many years, but it's of course a very sad day when the suits at gog get their way, and finally kill off the gog that we all knew and loved.

Where can we buy games now? Only Kickstarters? But what if even those get bridled with DRM here on GOG too? Such shitty news, and shitty move. This was the last original principle they hadn't trampled all over yet. Now the entire soul of GOG-that-was is ruined, and we only have the husk left.

Very sad :(

Other DRM-free stores. To be clear, I don't mean Scheme or Epic Fail having some titles play without the client with some workaround or another.

Interestingly, the trailer for the latest release on Zoom-Platform includes the tagline at the end "Always DRM-free". Obviously it is a smaller store with less selection, though no "offenders" as far as I know.

Itch has many DRM-free games but I wouldn't consider it a true DRM-free store. I consider Humble Bundle a lost cause but I guess they still have their old DRM-free section around (wouldn't know, haven't visited site in years).

For those of us, myself included, who appreciate the adult anime RPGs/visual novels, it's my understanding that those release on their respective stores (e.g. Kagura Games, JAST USA); make sure to check if DRM-free.

Aside from those, there are a few sites where you can buy a DRM-free version directly from the developer (e.g. Soldak Entertainment who make the Din's _ series of games and another one or two).

You could go really old school too if a developer doesn't have that option: try to contact a developer and see if they'll allow the option, or let you individually buy a DRM-free version directly from them.

What is frustrating is that despite GOG's shift towards accepting this online stuff, they are still the only DRM-free option for me to purchase certain games, such as Skyrim.

No, I know.

Try telling that to Goggites though. :-p

But I don't live in fear in a cave... I don't let DRM stop me from playing what I want to so my collection is a bit bigger than yours.

The only advantage I can see to GOG is non-forced updates... and even that's not enough since DRM free on Steam is usually the same files (if not newer) less GOG specific files & after having many troubles downloading Baldur's Gate 3 from GOG I've been moving away from spending $ on GOG. With one or 2 extra steps I can stop Steam from seeing a DRM free game requires an update. The whole Baldur's Gate 3 thing has me really, really, really regretting buying it from GOG.

One of the GOG employees said (not verbatim) 'just use galaxy then' since it downloads in the same way Steam does... and my response to that is 'just use Steam then'.

Others have gone 'oh but you can get galaxy to add games from other stores!' and as far as I can tell it's more work to keep the plug-ins update to date then to just... go to the store & directly download it & add the game to Steam.
(Steam lets you add the games the same way discord does; with a list of recognised programs & then custom exes.)

I stopped using galaxy when someone (I forget who) pointed out that if you let galaxy connect to the internet it uploads a list of all games from linked via plugin stores to GOG... which... why? So I stopped using galaxy.

Plus then there's the pitifully small GOG online MP presence for for games where they haven't bothered to ensure one can play with Steam users... which is the biggest 'community' of gamers in the world.