GOG.com faked its death

^^ Eh nothing better to do. Plus, once in a while, rumors come true (though admittedly, listing 'Steam' instead of 'Valve' buying GOG doesn't really lend the rumor any credit).

Update.

edited 20th Sep '10 10:52:08 AM by WUE

I'd be happier if there was just some way to get the games exclusive to this service for sale on other services. I didn't buy very many games from GOG... Just the collections of Earthworm Jim, Battle Chess, and Isher. While I could buy Earthworm Jim on Steam, I can't do that for Battle Chess, Isher or most of the games I was interested in on the service like Duke Nukem 3 D and Septerra Core

Wizard Needs Food Badly

@Game Guru: your theory (first post of page 2) is interesting but I think it would rather show what happens with an irresponsibile publisher who doesn't care for its customers. True, GOG's games are DRM and activation free, but a lot of people have not backups of all their bought ones right now; some already bought them but they haven't downloaded yet. In any case, they can't use what they paid for, they have a good reason to be angry, and GOG's staff would have failed to prove such point.

A couple people in the Neo Gaf forums posted the results on searches they did on some economic websites, showing some big movements of money around GOG and CD Projekt's parent company, which has an EGM (Emergency General Meeting) called for tomorrow. Let's wait a bit more to see what means for the future of this service.

And now a mysterious video.

Wait a second. There is a picture for Baldurs Gate in that video. IIRC they never had that in their portfolio until now.

^ Exactly. Smelling more and more of a marketing stunt. Probably some big announcements, including the aforementioned Baldur's Gate

I am hesitant to say that as much as there might be things we don't know about, miscommunication.

Perhaps they made a deal that allowed them to retain DRM-free games.

Well he's talking about WWII when the Chinese bomb pearl harbor and they commuted suicide by running their planes into the ship.

Which came the alternate theory of Valve buying them. There are only three possibilities from the information we've been given.

• They've shut down for good, which sucks.
• They've shut down so they can add DRM to the site, which sucks and makes people lose trust in them.
• They've shut down and their library is on Steam now, which sucks, but means we can still buy and download the damn games.

Basically, it's either dead or a dick move. There is no good side unless the games exclusive to the service reappear on others.

Wizard Needs Food Badly

They are definitely updating the site and library judging from the few frames of information hidden in the video. So dead, no. Sold, unlikely. Rebooted, obviously. Whether this reboot has any implications toward their No DRM stance will be seen.

I wouldn't be surprised either way. This is either a poorly orchestrated marketing campaign or a policy change. And they wouldn't be the first to sacrifice their principles for a larger library; Impulse did that as well and much worse.

whats DRM?

n/a

Digital rights management.

edited 21st Sep '10 3:28:36 PM by Tzetze

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

how exactly(barring the dlc for stuff already made) does infringe a user's rights?(this is a question of curiosity not spite as i am a console gamer)

n/a

Not allowing you to play a game you paid for if you get a new computer, for example. Or not allowing you to play a game if your internet's down. Or not being able to play a game you legally purchased in a different country. Or in extreme cases, creating large security vulnerabilities in a user's computer.

It causes them a lot of problems. As an extreme example, Sony DRM once caused users' computers to be infected with a virus.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

There is DRM and there is DRM. I'm fine with a service that is similar to, say, Valve's model, not so much with what Ubisoft did.

My latest liveblog.

thank ya guys

n/a

Valve's model is DRM done right. Yes, it does take away from user's rights, but it also gives users things in exchange for those rights.

edited 21st Sep '10 11:22:39 PM by GameGuruGG

Wizard Needs Food Badly

DRM done right is a contradiction in terms.

I just noticed something.

"we've decided that GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form."

I'm going to take a wild stab and say it's just coming out of beta. Except making it look like they're closing down, even if it was unintentional, is still really stupid.

Your 'wild stab' has been taken so many times, you're probably not going to hit any actual flesh with it.

My latest liveblog.

Stupid question maybe: I was wondering why the time for today's statement (see GOG's homepage right now) is written as EDT first, and then the CET equivalent is specified. Since it's a European company we're dealing with, I'd find more logical to do the opposite. Or in economics, the time zone of Wall Street is the main reference?

"UPDATE 22.09.2010 There are still free places at our conference for media, everyone is invited now, please go to: http://www.transmisjeonline.pl/gogconference , enjoy! :)"

I cannot due to my 56k connection, does someone want to try?

It's asking me for a login... and again with the Polish.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

You're right from a technical perspective. Basically, think of it this way: Encryption is trying to send a message from Alice to Bob without Eve reading it. DRM is the same, except Bob and Eve are the same person.

From a social perspective, though, the DRM on Steam is nigh-invisible, since single-player games are completely playable in offline mode.

the future we had hoped for

Marketing stunt confirmed.