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On March 31st we are going to discontinue the Fair Price Package program. Let us explain the reasoning behind this decision.

We came up with Fair Price Package (FPP) as a way to make up the price difference between various countries. Some games on GOG.COM have regional pricing, meaning the price of the same game in one place can be higher compared to its price in North America. In countries where the game is more expensive, we give users the equivalent of the price difference in GOG Wallet funds. In actual numbers, on average, we give users back 12% of the game price from our own pocket. In some cases, this number can reach as high as 37%.

In the past, we were able to cover these extra costs from our cut and still turn a small profit. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller. However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss.

Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.

We wanted to make sure you have some lead time to still benefit from the Fair Price Package. The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019, so if you would like to take advantage of it, now is the time. The funds you gather from the program will keep the 12 months expiration date from the moment you’ve been granted your last funds.
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First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
Post edited February 26, 2019 by elcook
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ConsulCaesar: I have always said that regional pricing was implemented well on GOG because of the Fair Price program. I guess I won't be able to say it anymore.

On the other hand, maybe we were holding GOG to a higher standard than other stores. I believe GOG is the only one with a policy like that.
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PixelBoy: It wasn't implemented well at all, because they didn't have any compensation when they introduced it.
They only added that because there was a massive wave of complaints from the users.

I guess we have now reached a point where GOG really doesn't care about its users anymore.

That's OK, I don't really care about GOG anymore as a user. They have cancelled all of their founding principles, with DRM-free being the only one still standing on some shaky grounds. I don't think it will be long now that they cancel that too.
because what would really benefit the customer is gOg making a loss on the sales, and therefore go bankrupt. Win-win situation, right?
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GOG.com: The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019,
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SirPrimalform: Ah, just after Brexit then. I trust that by that point our economy will have crashed to the point where the UK prices will need to be lower than the US prices anyway. At least we can while away the wait for food and medicine with cheap games!
On the other hand, the pound will fall off a cliff and there will be a huge inflation, which means they need to actually increase the UK prices. Good luck paying 500£ for a 10$ indie game in the future.
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Can't say it was unexpected, in fact it was very much so, just one more step down that slippery slope you've been on for several years now, leaving absolutely no shred of any value except DRM free for singleplayer, and who knows what may come even from that point of view, thinking of Galaxy and looking at some games already having things tied to registration on 3rd party sites.
Of course, in my case the FPP was irrelevant, here strictly for the original values, a game not respecting them, so having prices above the base one, was firmly on the don't purchase list regardless of level of interest and will remain so. But there were plenty saying that there was actually no such game on GOG because of the FPP, so wonder what they'll say now. (Or don't, actually, since I already see them here being understanding and thanking for the honesty and making good wishes as if this would be a good thing, or even saying that it is directly. Because they don't care about those original values or changing the market. Same as GOG hasn't in so long now.)
Will need to hope MaGOG for pre-legacy mode releases and the price tracking topic for the newer ones will remain valid and constantly updated after this though, to accurately point out the pricing matrix of each game now that the FPP will not be obviously listed to make it clear when one has a price above base.

And yeah, "thank" Epic for this race to the bottom trashing any services game stores may offer even more than they already were. Though, of course, that comes after "thanking" CDP for demanding GOG's growth and them to fund their development costs and more recently create and maintain the whole on-line infrastructure for Gwent... which shouldn't have been on GOG in the first place anyway.
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While I did like the FPP I understand your decision. If the developers gets a bigger cut and this helps GOG stay relevant in the competition between digital storefronts then do what needs to be done.
GOG has been my store of choice since I found it and will continue to be just that as long as you stay DRM-free.

More AAA games please!
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tfishell: I actually wouldn't blame GOG for shutting down Connect either, but I guess Connect games are rare enough that it doesn't really affect the bottom line.
They are basically just freebies with a smaller pool of people who can get them, and who might not have bought them anyway. I doubt Connect has any noticeable impact on their financial situation at all.
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And this, obviously:
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PaterAlf: Maybe you should ask yourself and the publishers/developers how that kind of shitty regional pricing can even happen? Nothing justifies a 37% price hike from the (already high) US base price.
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GOG.com: Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.
If it helps to attract more big publishers and their games, then perhaps it will expand the choice of AAA-games here, attract more users and get more money on larger sales.
So perhaps it will be better in the end.
I hope so.

P.S. But with the curation system, you definitely need to do something. Too many good games started to pass by us. Of course, you can not arrange a marsh like in Steam, but the current situation with the curation is completely unhealthy.
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fonwick: The stand-alone installers on GoG try to shove Galaxy down my throat every time but I can
at least block the 'GoG-only DRM' and close the process at install.
Use offline installers with no Galaxy whatsoever attached. See the picture!
Attachments:
I do not believe that it is Gogs fault that some pubs wish to inflict price gouging on others, and I respect Gog for trying to alleviate this.

I will continue to buy from Gog, and I will continue to avoid price gouging.

Let the pubs worry.

edit spelling.
Post edited February 26, 2019 by lazydog
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Olauron: Understandable. Looks like a result of lower cut introduced by Epic Store. Judging by "With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller" GOG now moves to that direction regarding the cut to stay competitive.
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Leak: And since they kicked off that race to the bottom to the detriment of us users I'll make sure I don't ever buy anything Epic does ever again, and think twice before buying any unreal engine based games...
But make sure to download the free games from them, so you are costing them bandwidth. :)
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Reglisse: Choice between Steam Linux Launcher and GOG Galaxy without Linux...So a lot of games with Linux Support on Steam and not here.
Because some new games seem to need Galaxy and without Galaxy no Linux version on GOG.
As for DRM,a lot of my games on Steam are DRM free,I can copy them on another PC and they run without Steam installed.
Steam is like a cash desk in a store...you use it to pay.
You are not forced to buy DENUVO shit.
Those are true DRM infested games for me.
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fonwick: ^
the 'super hard' DENUVO-like rubbish and such is easy to avoid with SteamEnhanced as it mentions any known 3rd party DRM
https://pcgamingwiki.com/ is a great source that mentions the engine per-game as well.
(PCGW has a 'GOG.com Enhancement Project' as well which really is the information that GoG should just be offering as it is but heck..)
Thanks for the link ^__^
Are things looking so grim? First the layoffs, now this. By all means, do everything to stay competitive and able to offer your amazing service. As long as the games stay DRM-free, I'm on board.
Do what you gotta do to stay viable. Gaming needs GOG.
Its a shame the program is gone, it saved me some money in the long run , however if its better for GOG, I am fine with this and will continue to support you.
Since posts only showed up now, big +1s to
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P1na:
and
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PixelBoy:
saying exactly what needs to be said.

Yeah, how enthusiastic I also was about GOG before the "good news" of 2014 and then see everything that happened since then, how they played for fools all of us who believed in and supported and promoted them during those first several years, for their values and stated mission...