Companies and politicians should both not be getting away with their lies if they are found out to be lying.

No offense but this is pretty moronic. If you actually give two squats about GOG, the LAST thing you should be doing is trying or encouraging the filing of a lawsuit over one game having some features locked behind DRM. It would not have the results you want. Sure, you might get the Hitman game removed from GOG but if they have to pay anybody a significant amount of cash, you're literally only contributing toward the destruction of the service as a whole.

If anyone needs a wakeup call, it's the community. Y'all need to chill out. YES, this is an issue that needs fixing but throwing tantrums like this isn't helping anybody.

Wouldn't it be simpler just to stop giving GOG money until they change their ways? If enough people stop buying games (not just Hitman, but all games), don't you think GOG would reconsider their approach?

Really?

There is a saying, "talk is cheap."

Threatening to file a lawsuit doesn't accomplish anything. That happens all the time.

Actually filing a lawsuit, however, that's a different story. That does does have the potential to change some things, maybe.

So if you are going to file a lawsuit, then you should lawyer-up and actually do it.

Making blusterous posts on GOG forums, while not actually filing a lawsuit, that won't get you anywhere, though.

Although even if you did file a lawsuit, and won, I highly doubt that that would make GOG reverse their DRM-embracing course.

Rather, their likely response would be to 100% remove all "DRM-free" wording from their websites and software going forward.

And that's true, you'll be able to boot it up and it will play it. Pretty sure the legal system will turn it all down. If 'every feature is DRM-free and doesn't require internet connection' then it might work, you could also throw Prey and a few others on for having DRM left inside the executables. Though some of the management and multiplayer in older games are to go through a server that no longer exists.

I think this is more an issue with the companies making the games and less as a storefront. You don't sue Walmart for selling you a faulty chair, you go for the one that made it and walmart sold to you from. Same thing for firearms and other things.

I'd think it would be better if you went after copyright. If you made the claim that copyright was way to f**king long and things start to become irrelevant after 3 years, then i think you'd get a better chance, and companies should make their programs/games with the expectation they will release the source after 10 years (and maybe media should include the sources in an encrypted archive which a password is released at a per-determined date or when the company files bankruptcy) then games/programs can not only have a chance to go to the public domain but with the sources available unwanted features can be fixed by the public to a better public version.

Which would at least be honest. It's their store. They can re-launch it as DRM-agnostic store, if they choose to. As long as they would clearly mark which games are DRM-ed and which are not (and provide a filter), this would even be better than the current lies to customers. In that way, GOG would be on the same level as itch.io, humble or gamejolt. (only with some random curation).

But the pretense that they are still DRM-free is infuriating. In the case of HITMAN, it's even false advertising. I would celebrate samuraigaiden if the lawsuit succeeds.

However, meanwhile we can do as Mori Yuki suggests and file complaints for false advertising with the customer protection agencies in our respective contries. (Internet-Ombudsstelle in Austria, Verbraucherschutzzentrale and Wettbewerbszentrale in Germany, Bureau of Consumer Protection in the US and so on)

Thank you for laying this out, I agree entirely.

Wow, thank you for this contribution, obviously the OP is incapable of having doubt or any critical thinking and needs you to chime in that it might not happen.
The motto is agree and amplify, I'd expect you with all your crusades to actually understand that.
And obviously, vote with your dollars would mean the end of DRM considering hitman is the best selling game on gog.

True, but from what I understand, the game's store page does not accurately describe all the features that are not available offline. So that's shady. And now GOG is going to move against "review bombing" and remove some of the negative reviews. And the reviews are the only thing on that store page that actually informs the customer of everything that is locked beihnd online DRM. Supposedly they will only remove the ones that violate their "guidlines" but those are so vague it could mean almost anything. We'll see what they remove I guess.

I have a better idea!

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_hitman_game_of_the_year_edition_11093/post710

So who's with me?!?! I know I am, I am always with me, wherever I go! You could participate in both if you want, buying GOG/CDP shares, and suing yourself! I see no way you could lose to yourself.

Anyway, my popcorn is soooooo ready. Good luck to you all with your class action lawsuit. Good! More for me to buy then, I guess? You lead a busy life, doing all those things at once?

I don't even have enough time to play all the games I want, especially as I hang around here in GOG forums.

EDIT: My brother is a lawyer, I will ask him over a beer whether he would like to take this lawsuit case pro boner.

All I have to say is gog.com should be ashamed for succumbing to accepting a little bit of Digital Rights Management (DRM) to their digital store.

I don't know what specific reviews you mean but some for other games definitely should be removed. Have seen some that have nothing at all to do with the quality of a game. One review I've read here was only a complaint that GOG released the game 10 or 15 minutes late. Also, I think that people who post reviews for Steam versions should be deleted when they aren't comparing to GOG's version.

If someone is going to post a review for something here, they should have played GOG's version, too, and not only Steam's. There can be and have been differences between DRM-free versions of games at different stores.

Anyway, ""DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play." is correct for this new Hitman. It's only required if you want access to everything available for it. It's far from ideal but I was recently pointed to a mod that unlocks most or all of the stuff. Have yet to try it.

We're having to deal with something similar regarding No Man's Sky. Hello Games has taken steps to make things right but there are still things we don't have access to without playing online. Techland has left some things unavailable for GOG users of Dying Light, too.

As far as 2077 goes, I think they made some of the items unlockable only through Galaxy in an attempt to make sure those items stayed exclusive to people that pre-ordered the game from GOG but I could be wrong. I don't like how they handled those items but I don't have a better solution either.

GOG really needs to do more to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Not going so far as to join a lawsuit over it, though.

Anyway, here is how the lawsuit would go:

Judge: "You serious? Okay then, GOG must offer a refund to all those who have bought the game from the store with the wrong premise that it is DRM-free."

"Oh they did already? Case closed. Next!"

Isn't there already an option to filter only those reviews where the reviewer has the game on GOG? Maybe I remember wrong...

Anyway, quite often people who have played the game in the past (retail version) or on Steam can still give quite valuable input in the reviews, about the quality of the game itself (rather than if there are e.g. some GOG specific problems with the game).

I welcome both kinds of reviews, both serve a purpose. A different purpose, but a purpose nonetheless.

The initial post and title has sparked my curiousity. But it feels rather meaningless if there is no actual official statement from GOG to the claims made.

Are there at least some people here who complained and asked the support team of GOG what is the idea of causing the issue?

Otherwise it sounds more like an issue with the publisher than with GOG, having provided software which comes without DRM just to work properly with internet connection.

It reminds me of all those freemium games on mobile app stores where you get one episode free but the rest needs to be bought. The app is indeed free, no doubt with that statement in that constellation. But it does not sit right with the expectations.

So who actually submitted complaints towards the support team and got official replies which can be discussed or even brought to a broader audience?

If GOG is really about screwing their customers with underhanded methods, I am sure they will lose validity as a gaming platform as often stated in other occassions. But you must not make false claims unless it is clear who is responsible for the issue. Same questions when you wonder if a game is broken because of the developers, the publishers, or the provider.

The first course of action is to contact the seller, GOG, to have them sort it out. In case someone purchased it unaware of the fact that a major part of the game is inaccessible they can ask for a refund. GOG doesn't hide the fact that some of the content is locked unless and until you connect to IOI. What they do not explicitly mention is what else besides user generated online content isn't accessible and what it means. That's why a lawsuit or class action wouldn't even get admitted. At least not as long as there are other options available to customers and the individual isn't harmed, which isn't the case.

This is why I think arbitration by Ombudsman or consumer legal rights groups is the best thing to do in this case. Maybe GOG will have a change of heart or maybe they are asked or ordered to decouple all games from their client, so we finally get to enjoy the full content, items and whatever else we paid for. The best possible outcome and in a sense something both GOG and we are going to benefit from.

If you'd ask me, the only thing that can and should be tied to the client, that's achievements. Many players love them and they can or must use the client for that, for social interaction, monitoring of time played, so on so forth. Then they can shop, organize their libraries, keep their content updated automatically. That's the only benefits and the only functions the GOG Galaxy client should provide. It should not act as a gatekeeper to content they did not produce. Gwent and other CDPR games being the exception. This is what it is about for me and why I will write to both this country's Ombudsman as well as the EU one come Monday.

Let's hope for the best. :)