Since the earliest days, GOG built the entire identity of it's platform around being DRM-free.

Even now, in the game page for Hitman 2016 it says "DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play."

Unfortunately, it has become clear that this is simply untrue. Hitman requires an always online connection to have access to basic single player game progression, such as unlocking new weapons, outfits and new starting locations.

To anyone unfamiliar, Hitman is a stealth sandbox game. The claim that the base story content is playable offline is meaningless given that is a mere fraction of the experience. This is not a Telltale adventure game we're talking about.

The state in which the game is being sold not only contradicts the information present in the game page, it contradicts the entire identity that GOG built since it's inception.

This is not just about a specific game. It's about a website luring people for years with the promise of only selling DRM-free software.

Hitman 2016 creates a terrible precedent for more games to be released on GOG with only a tiny slice of the single player gameplay actually DRM-free while the bulk of the experience requires an always online connection or some other form of DRM.

If we are to look at this situation in the wider context of recent controversies surrounding the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, the big picture is even more worrying.

It is clear that CDPR management needs a wake up call.

My suggestion is that like minded individuals participate in this thread to use GOG's own forum to gather evidence to be used as the basis for a class action lawsuit against the website.

I am saddened that it has come to this.

GOG is in a path of self destruction and the only way to save is by making our voices heard.

I mean you probably don't have enough people with standing for a class suit. But good luck.

I hope someone who hates Digital Rights Management (DRM) and feels lied to about gog.com what they are doing now takes gog.com to court with a very good lawyer and wins the lawsuit and gets gog.com fined $500 million dollars (USD) for these lies.

Freaking gog.com is succumbing to other video game publishing companies loving Digital Rights Management (DRM).

they probably have somewhere:
blablablaouritemscancontainnutsblabla
excuse

so i think these lawsuits wouldnt win anything

Boycotting is good and all, but this is...I don't know.
Oh well, at some point it was bound to get ridiculous.

Edit: Before someone calls me a shill or something along those lines, I don't intend to buy a game on this platform for the time being.

but you are just a cat so what can you know right?:O
ridiculous is drm-free games contain be online or else your game is reduced to safe mode version with minimal feature list

If someone has a good enough lawyer for these kinds of things these lawsuits can be won.

Look at Tim Sweeney he won hist Apple vs. Epic lawsuit only thing was Apple blacklisted Fortnite from all Apple devices for five years and that is it, but the judge agreed with most of Tim Sweeny's things.

epic didnt win

lol have you lot not got lives? Go outside, go fishing, go for a walk, learn an instrument or something.

Nope, that’s not going to work. Far too much effort and money required and probably won’t get any result. If you are unhappy, stop buying from here. That will very quickly send a clear message when revenue streams dry up, and is the only way to effect change.

Not sure how it's done since we live in different countries, but if possible I'm in.
I think they should pay for this.

No it's not. Every time people say 'vote with your wallet' you know it's a lost cause. I'm not giving up that easily on GOG.

I will make their life miserable just as much as they are making mine by abandoning their core principles.

Angry people make rich laywers.

I don't think there is anything illegal about gog selling DRMed games despite their promises, if politicians can get away with it then a company surely can.
Apart for it being ashtoshingly hypocrytical, gog going back on their promises has been going on since they came back on their "one price for all" policy (remember that?), after that we got regionlocking and slowly but surely DRM found it's way into the store.
Also a lot of the oldies touted as being made compatible have stopped working with the passing of time, while on other stores a working version can be had.

So it's not gog that's needed to wake up.

I don't think there is going to be a class action but there is another way. For customers inside the EU and U.K., they could turn to the Internet Ombudsman, where I do see chance that GOG could be held liable for false advertisement or misleading advertisement.

Technically speaking and relative to Hitman, it isn't even a lie: DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play. You are able to play the whole game offline and you are able to finish it.

That you aren't going to enjoy it very much, because the important parts are locked and you'd need to have an IOI account and active online connection at all times in order to unlock items, weapons, starting points - the major part of it basically, is what's important.

Pretty much the same as locking multiplayer and single player online content, necessitating GOG customers to install and use a client to be able to enjoy all content they paid for. This is the same thing because GOG is selling games and their client should be optional at all times not mandated. Offline installers are available and there's no need for Galaxy for both offline or online gaming or accessing certain content.

I mention this because if GOG customers were to turn to their countries Ombudsman maybe this can also be taken care of. This would be a major step in the right direction, which otherwise will not happen, because GOG management has other ideas: Forcing Galaxy 2.0, selling games with gated content, an item only available via Galaxy, everything GOG should not stand for.

Who knows what's going to come of it? Contacting your Ombudsman doesn't cost anything as opposed to maybe a lawsuit. It can't get any worse that it already is so it's worth a try.

Thank you! This is a great suggestion.


Not that I would be against a law suit, what GOG is doing here is false advertising in spirit. But, de jure, you are right. Their ad can still be spun as true. You still can play 'the game' without online connection, if you define 'the game' as the small part that is not DRM-ed. GOG very wisely removed the 100% DRM-free promise from their website quite some time ago. So as long as a small part of the game can be played offline, they will get away with it in front of a court.