I think I've seen you mention this somewhere else on the forum recently, but an important thing for all of us who have ever bought or even received free games from GOG is that their success, however they can obtain it as long as DRM Free purchases are kept DRM Free, is in all of our best interests to continue to have access to said games and any updates.

Yep, and I certainly want them to continue with their success so far, without any compromises being too great.

Of course GOG compromised quite early on, when Multiplayer wasn't guaranteed to be DRM-Free. But DRM is certainly the way of the world, the big default for the gaming industry, so to survive in the face of that, compromises will always need to be made, and certainly in the minds of a few here, many compromises have already been made.

Where it will all end is anybody's guess, and there is no shortage of Doomsayers.

We can but hope for the best, and hope for a good 2023 for GOG and their DRM-Free supporters, while at the same time encouraging GOG to not compromise any more than they really feel they need to, to survive and grow ... essential growth being vital, because you don't survive long without it.

I think this is an important point.

Fair enough. Understood.

I don't have your perspective -- having never dealt at all with Steam Workshop -- but...

... maybe GOG could implement a more user-friendly and less exclusive stance? One could hope... but I certainly understand the fear.

My biggest suprise on GOG in 2022 is the availability of Skyrim. I don't care about version numbers, mods, achievements or any other complaints whatsoever. I just want to play the game on this platform. My hope for 2023 is that they can do the same for Fallout 4 GOTY, too.

Not only did GOG see a significant increase in sales (mostly thanks to the specified software like the one from Priceva), but they also added a number of highly-anticipated titles to their library.

One of the biggest highlights for GOG in 2022 was the release of several classic PC games that had been remastered for modern systems. These included fan-favorite titles such as "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind" and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic." These remasters proved to be incredibly popular with both long-time fans and newcomers to the series.

In addition to the release of these remastered games, GOG also saw a number of new indie titles debut on their platform. These games, which were developed by small teams and independent studios, offered a refreshing change of pace from the big-budget titles that dominate the market. They also helped to further establish GOG as a go-to destination for indie games.

Beyond just the games themselves, GOG also made a number of improvements to their platform in 2022. They introduced a new client that made it even easier to download and manage your games, and they also added support for a number of new languages.

Overall, 2022 was a great year for GOG. They continued to grow their library of games, and made a number of improvements to their platform that made it even more user-friendly. As we move into 2023, it will be exciting to see what they have in store for us next.

2023 is going to be really promising, my opinion.

Morrowind has been here since like 2015, and KotOP around a similar time. We did get Skyrim in 2022 though.

I couldn't disagree more with the OP.

As someone who "owns" Skyrim already on Steam, the release on GOG wasn't compelling enough for me to buy it here - it seems that some mods won't play as nicely with the GOG version? Maybe in the future I'll buy it again, or I might just spend my money on a game that isn't 15 years old by that time.

The Daggerfall repack by GOG was an unmitigated failure.
People complain regularly about the original package being removed from their account.
The initial repack included mods that were included without permission.
The game has been free for over 13 years.
The game is very well supported by an existing community and website since 1995, https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page

GOG should have concentrated on releasing actual abandoned unreleased games instead of trying to piggyback on a game that was already free, and already well-supported.
The idea of releasing modpacks is not a great idea. If you want to compete with Steam/Nexus then build your own mod overlay system. Or don't.

And I couldn't give a flying F about AAA or AA or A releases, whatever that means. I do know that some games that I wanted like Wildermyth were released last year and Inkulinati also coming soon to GOG, which I am happy about.

I am also grateful for GOG existing. It's not as useful as it once was maybe because I have bought most of the old games I wanted to, but I hope it continues in the near future.

That is of course your very personal stance, no doubt echoed by a few others here.
But many like myself were never going to buy the game at Steam, so even in its current state we are more than happy it came here DRM-Free. Issues with its current state might be something fixed at some future date, who knows. Getting it here at GOG and not in a state like Hitman GOTY is a big win for many of us, but then we care deeply about DRM-Free, and GOG after all, is a DRM-Free store, and earlier games in the series were already here.

I certainly agree with you in part about this. But i do wonder who approached who. Who was behind the idea of the game being at GOG?

It would likely get a bigger audience here. Maybe even have better longevity and support here. Maybe GOG badly needed a free game at the time, that didn't cost much to provide.

Is the game still freely available elsewhere? Could that possibly stop soon or be on the cards at some point?

It likewise seemed odd when Samorost 1 came here, and a few other games that were legit free elsewhere (i.e. Dink Smallwood HD, etc).

Many of us here agree with you about this at least.

Great to hear. :)