The Witcher 2 Digital Premium Edition Price on GOG Dropped for UK Customers

I don't really want to be that guy, but I must point out that the bytes are rather important when it comes to computer games. Pretty much essential, actually. And the bytes are what the developer (i.e. the people actually making the story, art, sound, gameplay et cetera) do. I'd rather give my money to the people who can make a me good game than to the people who can make a pretty box and put it on a truck to ship to a store.

I do really, really think that digital products should be cheaper than physical. But the box, disc and shipping are really not a large part of the price, so I'm not too upset about it. A bit lower prices for new digital games would be good, but I'm not going to feel cheated for not getting some box to go with my game when the game is what I'm really after.

It's more than you think, especially if you count the distributors and intermediary traders that are usually part of the traditional supply chain. A friend of mine who works in the games industry once told me that a publisher in the classic retail game distribution model where you go to a store and buy a box for $60 makes about as much money per copy sold as if they sold it through Steam for $10.

So seeing as CD Projekt distribute themselves here, while being contractually obliged to inflate the digital distribution prices to more or less match the retail ones, I'm pretty sure that by buying here, a lot more of the money you pay ends up with the people who actually created the game.

Its not the money difference between physical and digi, i just have an issue with owning a digital copy of anything digital that is over 20 quid. And i like having actual discs

I do understand that - I didn't mean that there aren't additional costs involved, I just mean that the only parts that directly benefit me (the box, bringing the box close to me so I can buy it) aren't that huge part of it. The traditional supply chain (and the price having to rise every time the game changes hands, so that every part of the chain gets their cut) has been a necessary evil for physical distribution, but not something that gives any benefit to me personally if there is another alternative.

I do agree that a substantially larger percentage will probably go to CD project this way, and I will do my best to ensure that the actual developers get the biggest slice of the cake - because they are actually doing what I care about. I think that prices should be lower for digital distribution, but I do shrug my shoulders about it for the most part - especially when developers do their own digital distribution.

I would like to pay less, but as you say there's usually a contractual obligation not to undercut the prices of brick and mortar, so there isn't much that can be done quickly or easily about it. I just look at the bright side, guessing that the actual developer gets a higher profit margin, which gives them more money to invest in making new games for me.

I hate discs, so that's just a difference between us I guess :) And I haven't set any hard limit in exactly how much money "something digital" is worth to me. I'm just saying that when you're buying a game, the actual game is usually what's important. So saying that you don't want to pay that much for "just bytes" feels like missing the point to me. A sequence of bytes may be easy to replicate, but that doesn't negate the work that went into making it in the first place.

I don't necessarily share the distrust and/or distaste many here have for Steam, but I would like to point out that Steam or their business model is not in any way involved here. This is a DRM-free game that you can download and keep backup copies of in the way that you like. For me, the risk of things going wrong to the point of me losing a game has always felt greater when it's a purely physical game - a lot can happen to a disc, but a digital copy can be downloaded again or restored from any backup I've made.

I own plenty of games on GOG and they feel a lot more secure to me than the physical version I have of several of the same games. If/when something happens to my installed game I still have the downloaded installer and can re-install. Sure, I can lose those when the HDD dies, but unless GOG has gone bankrupt at the exact same time I can still re-download copies of my games and keep. As far as I understand it, that's the same thing you'll be able to do with the Witcher 2.

Meanwhile, I have two physical copies each of Baldur's Gate I and II, and neither of them works because of disc errors. Obviously I'm not careful enough when handling discs, but even when the most careful person can lose a disc in one way or another. And those physical discs are a lot more work to keep backups of, since you have to take the effort to circumvent any copy protection and so on. I much prefer digital, where a lost game is solved by the simple process of re-downloading/re-installing instead of the frustration of trying to get a drive to read a damaged disc.

I do see your point and i guess im just a bit old fashioned


Edit_ - who voted that down, it just an oppinion and hes entitled it

Well we all have different preferences - I have to admit that the biggest part of my dislike for physical discs isn't actually anything as serious as what I've mentioned. It's simply that I tend to get headaches from the typical whirring sound of optical disc drives :) But since I started shunning discs because of that I've found more and more that I do like digital distribution better for other reasons as well.

I suppose there is always getting it on GOG and getting a disc version when its cheaper.

Does anyone know about potential dlc and stuff like that?

The lead dev at Runic claimed that a digital copy of Torchlight off their website or Steam made them between 14-18 bucks, whereas they'd be lucky to get 4-7 off a brick and mortar sale.

Torchlight retailed for 20 USD (all prices in USD).

EDIT: And that is the most horrible GOG headline ever, I thought you were disallowing pre-orders from the UK, that's what "dropping" meant to me. Perhaps you should slip the word "price" in there somewhere to clarify.

I come back from holidays to find news like this thank you so much gog that is great news for us uk customers thanks.

As I already said several times before on this forum, GOG is not the only site which sells some of these games. I don't need 5 copies of Gothic 2, thank you.

Preordering would get an exclusive artbook from here but ingame stuff like a merchant or armour from elsewhere. Now if this version contained all the preorder goodies from elsewhere as well we'd have a deal.

QFT
With the extensively discussed above much higher share of money developers get through GOG sale than physical, they really should put out more DLC for digi. After all, THEY get cash from DLC stuff, not publishers.

As my paypal shows this is not really the case, I got charged $44.99 and according to Paypal that equated to £28.19, Guys if your gonna make it an advertised price you gotta actuall do it, £1.20 is no big deal but its misadvertising.

"and UK customers will pay only £26.99" when it is infact £28.19


Edit: qouted wrong line sorry.

Not sure if serious... but if so, your actual price is less than advertised by 1.80. Not seeing the issue here.

Sorry qouted the wrong bit, pre-order is £26.99 will fix

Ah, my bad. Should have read the actual GOG post at the top of this page. Yes, I see your point. Carry on, folks, nothing to see here.

Not at all, glad you pointed it out, you could have just left me looking like a plank.

Same thing here with buying with paypal was £28.19 not complaining though still cheaper than steam + all those goodies and a free game cant agrue for £1 odd.