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Looks like some developers are already pulling out of publishing deals with GOG over this. I hope more follow unless their decision is reversed.

https://nichegamer.com/2020/12/17/glass-bottom-games-will-not-sell-skatebird-through-gog-due-to-abandoning-devotion/
Money talks, bullshit walks. Simple as when it comes to issues like this, not to mention how many copies would gog even sell, how many people were even looking forward to this game/walking simulator? How many people even heard about the game prior to this? I doubt it would be nearly enough to justify the controversy and the potential loss of the chinese market
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DrearierSpider: Looks like some developers are already pulling out of publishing deals with GOG over this. I hope more follow unless their decision is reversed.

https://nichegamer.com/2020/12/17/glass-bottom-games-will-not-sell-skatebird-through-gog-due-to-abandoning-devotion/
Maybe it arrives at 19:00 CET (normal Steam release time), but to this point the game has not returned to steam. And nobody seems to care.

"But the developers removed it themselves from steam" - And you think they do not want it back on steam? The userbase of steam is much bigger than that of GOG.

Surprisingly enough the developer above has no issues with publishing their games on steam.

I think the issue for a large part is because of the way GOG communicated and what they communicated. And we all know they suck at communication ;)
Post edited December 17, 2020 by acute71
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DrearierSpider: Looks like some developers are already pulling out of publishing deals with GOG over this. I hope more follow unless their decision is reversed.
Maybe I am too cynical, but removing the game from Gog while at the same time keeping it on Steam sounds more like a low risk publicity stunt than anything. I mean it's a lot easier to have principles when it means removing your game from a shop that represent a couple of percent of your sales but a lot harder when it's from the other shop that represent more than 9X% of it.
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StingingVelvet: China's global financial influence is probably the number one threat to the West right now, honestly.
Instead of the attempted coup happening in the US after months of murderous mobs and mainstream media that looks like it's ran by a propaganda department?
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§pectre: Instead of the attempted coup happening in the US after months of murderous mobs and mainstream media that looks like it's ran by a propaganda department?
It's funny how Americans get yelled at for being too focused on the US a lot of the time, but then I use terms like "the West" and get a response as if I meant America specifically. Obviously every country has problems, and mine especially does right now believe me I know.

However as far as an overall battle for world influence goes, China right now is using its global financial power to prevent other countries from challenging it on anything. And when they're putting minorities in camps, trying to take over half an ocean and taking away the rights of their citizens even in outside territories, that's a very bad thing.
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§pectre: Instead of the attempted coup happening in the US after months of murderous mobs and mainstream media that looks like it's ran by a propaganda department?
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StingingVelvet: It's funny how Americans get yelled at for being too focused on the US a lot of the time, but then I use terms like "the West" and get a response as if I meant America specifically. Obviously every country has problems, and mine especially does right now believe me I know.
The rest of the west is following unless you think Britain,Israel or something else is the cause of all the current troubles. Internet companies are based in the US and look at what they have been allowed to get away with.
However as far as an overall battle for world influence goes, China right now is using its global financial power to prevent other countries from challenging it on anything. And when they're putting minorities in camps, trying to take over half an ocean and taking away the rights of their citizens even in outside territories, that's a very bad thing.
That's no different from any other large country except some others are falsely claiming more freedom.
I think the original post says it very well but the discussion has diverged from it.

The issue is primarily about GOG, not China, or even the government there: it's difficult to expect the Communist Party to say or do anything else than what they are saying and doing. When they prosecute any dissent, are they going to make an exception just for GOG? Of course not. Are they going to keep stirring up controversy whenever it suits their political interests? You bet they are. The important question though is: to what extent does it matter? If you're not in China, the answer is likely very little. Focusing on this aspect is missing the issue closer to home.

It's the Chinese government's prerogative to set the rules within their country. GOG is a business, not a political activist group, and if they want to operate in China, they should follow the laws there and probably take local sensitivities into account as well. I have no problem with that. Whether GOG should have this game listed in China is a separate question, and since it doesn't concern me directly, I'm fine with whatever they decide, either way.

What the Chinese Communist Party is up to is not a primary concern of mine either, for all I care they can do whatever they feel like as long as it doesn't affect me. I am however a customer and thus a stakeholder in GOG. And what GOG is telling us now is that basically anybody can get a game pulled if they complain enough. This creates a precedent that is the opening of Pandora's box. This time the backlash is from China, which is somewhat notorious for this kind of knee-jerk reaction, so it's easy to focus on the low-hanging fruit. Next time it could just as well be someone else though. To avoid the situation from repeating itself, the response can't be just about who's doing the complaining this particular time.

I do not blame external actors for trying to exert pressure on GOG: people will try to do all kinds of things as long as they can get away with them, as this is basic human nature, further propelled by organizational dynamics. But just because someone, somewhere (in this case, the Communist Party in China) demands something, doesn't mean that GOG should automatically bend over backwards to accommodate them. On the contrary, I'd expect GOG to listen to their customers and potential customers before they start pandering to outsiders, especially if these are just some randoms on social media. That they are in fact doing the very opposite is where the root of the problem is, for me. What's more, that they shamelessly claim their decision was due to popular demand is even more aggravating.

I am not looking to overthrow the Communist Party in China, however neither do I want to endorse it. The way GOG has played this, any purchase with them is effectively such an endorsement at this point, unless they backtrack on this decision. This is self-inflicted damage for GOG as it was possible to preempt such a development in a number of ways. However, now, GOG has to make a clear choice: do you or do you not stand for censorship?
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Turbo-Beaver: I am not looking to overthrow the Communist Party in China, however neither do I want to endorse it. The way GOG has played this, any purchase with them is effectively such an endorsement at this point, unless they backtrack on this decision. This is self-inflicted damage for GOG as it was possible to preempt such a development in a number of ways. However, now, GOG has to make a clear choice: do you or do you not stand for censorship?
Gogs supports twitch which supports political censorship where were the complaints on that?
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iSteveyang: I have never understood why in your eyes Chinese companies investing abroad is politically charged? While I don't support some overly strict censorship and bans by the Chinese government, games sold to Chinese players need to follow Chinese laws, and note that this only applies within China.
Yes, it should only apply within China. But it doesn't. Look at how much pressure China exerts to ban the game worldwide, just because the Chairman is insulted by the Winnie-the-Pooh comparison. (which frankly is an insult to Winnie-the-Pooh, who is a very lovable character). Tencent is backed by the Chinese government and exerts influence via Epic. The Chinese government threatens boycotts of companies that don't comply with their demands - even if those demands don't concern the Chinese interior market but the global market.

I would have no problem with GOG not selling that game in China. But that they don't sell it at all, globally, just because one person in China is insulted, and that they then pretend it was due to complaints from some 'gamers', is just weak.
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§pectre: Gogs supports twitch which supports political censorship where were the complaints on that?
Which games were removed from GOG on Twitch's demands?
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§pectre: Gogs supports twitch which supports political censorship where were the complaints on that?
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Turbo-Beaver: Which games were removed from GOG on Twitch's demands?
The comment was on supporting censorship, not specifically game removals.
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Lifthrasil: The Chinese government threatens boycotts of companies that don't comply with their demands - even if those demands don't concern the Chinese interior market but the global market.
In this case it's not even boycott that loomed, getting noticed would have been enough:

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/dec/17/taiwanese-horror-game-pulled-from-sale-again-after-backlash-in-china

Short version, GOG does business in China, but basically illegally. So they need to stay under the radar. Releasing a game like that would have been like attempting a break-and-enter wearing a bright red suit and a bell around the neck...

Actually the announcement could have been enough to alert the Chinese watchdogs, which would be very bad for GOG... the only upside would be that they then could release Devotion without a problem here, because the damage is done.

So what's better: GOG getting whipped out of China, leaving the field to Steam and Epic who both are in bed with the dictators - but get the game here, or GOG, with some luck, avoiding the attention from Chinese authorities and keeping their small DRM-free foothold in that country?

It's complex situation, there are no easy answers.
It's better to have at least one company who has a spine, until recently GOG was that company
If GOG wants to, they can go Steam route and have seperate Chinese store with only CCP approved games on sale. Basing their business strategy on staying under the radar of Chinese censors isn't going to work long term and means they have to stay constantly on their toes about any content that someone in China might find objectionable and raise a ruckus about.

Sooner or later something is going to catch their attention and then the Chinese censors don't hesitate for a second to block the main site and demand that they set up a seperate page for China that is curated by the CCP.