It's not only that CDPR is giving a bad example, as you put it. The way I see it, through the various mandatory uses of the "optional" client, CDPR is actively eroding GOG's leverage in negotiations which means in the near future it is likely games from bigger publishers will either not come to this store at all or will come here but in a gross DRMed/psuedo-DRMed state (a decent example might be the Hitman Lame of the Year Edition release GOG tried to push through until the user backlash was overwhelming enough against it).

What I mean by "negotiating leverage" is that, in theory, GOG tells a publisher "we want your game here", the publisher says "Hmm, I don't know, I like my DRM and just being only on Scheme", at which GOG has to counter with reasons to make the game available on GOG DRM-free. However, when GOG has titles by "their own"(read: CDPR's) company on the store with online/client-locked content, the publisher can point back at GOG and say "what do you care about me removing DRM for? You guys institute DRM yourselves". Making it harder for GOG to get games here DRM-free.

A related issue with the self-erosion of their negotiating leverage is GOG selling DRMed Epic games through the app on Galaxy 2.0 (or whatever their phrasing was). Why should those publishers make the game available on GOG when GOG themselves are constantly acting as though "GOG = Galaxy client" and thus the publishers feel they can reach "the GOG audience" just fine with the DRMed Epic games on Galaxy, leaving no reason (in their minds) to bring the game here to the website in an actually DRM-free form.

I surely can say... at the time CD PR was smaller and weaker... they was acting much more friendly to their audience and gamers. Then they became pretty successful, big revenue, and slowly they seem to become "arrogant" in some way. I can only spell out a warning for this because the gamers and the users are still the base for all what makes companys successfull and it can backfire big time as soon as the trust is gone...

The gamer base may look small on GoG, but there are many true gamers with high per head revenue... those are not the mindless casuals who might ocassionaly buy a cheap CD key with around 10 games in average. The community may look small, weak and non important... by the numbers, but actually they may count because many core gamers inside, and it will always give bad reputation... not staying true to the own philosophy, with surely serious side effects. Might is not something in order to abuse it... it will eat everyone engulfed by it... sooner or later. Over time... heart will always win, that i am pretty sure.

Still... so far i am able to get many of the deals i want here and my support is still strongest here. However, indeed i do agree... there is some surely critical paths going on and i hope those "might-drunken" decision makers may wake up soon and realize... it is not about might, in the end... if you win someones heart, you may survive even dark times but if you lose someones heart and trust... even the biggest numbers of what else... someday it may be gone... with some bad smell left; Surely not worth it.

Most of the stuff i do agree because it is a matter of "going your way" and, no matter at what cost... be true to it, fight and you may win; because trust and being yourself is really some massive value, i would say.

However: I do not agree when it comes to the Epic-Sales through GoG Galaxy because people should know pretty well that GoG is... or should be... DRM free and Epic Game is NOT DRM free. It is their own choice what to pick. GoG Galaxy is simply acting as a launcher for "all purposes" and to bring people from different platforms together. So, Galaxy itself is not a GoG exclusive but a platform who could be used for everyone. All what matters is that GoG will be true to their own way... be original with what they do.

I got the feeling, because of the Galaxy development and Galaxy focus the main website of GoG is starting to lose force and it is slacking at many spots.

GoG is somewhat a hybrid way....it means to keep up a launcher and a dedicated site for it. Not a launcher only... a site too, including offline-Installers... all the time.

GoG will need to manage both worlds and options (almost) perfectly and then it may work for everyone. Currently there is to much focus on the launcher and the main site is left in the cold... this should be changed pretty soon.

Besides: Epic Game Store is, at least when it comes to the philosophy, not 100% DRM because the choice is made by the publishers... although they usually will enjoy putting a DRM on it. Steam in general is always DRM but fact is... if any game is DRM free on Epic then it usually will be DRM free on Steam aswell. GoG is the only source it usually is always DRM free (with some critical matters we did already explain).

I do not enjoy Epic in general but i think, teamwork is not truly a bad thing because there could be some good benefits for all the people involved.

Good post. I certainly agree the website and DRM-free offline installers (the whole point of GOG) need more focus! Re: allowing users to buy DRMed Epic games through an app on Galaxy, I don't see how GOG benefits, or alternatively I don't see how the potential harm doesn't cancel out the (smaller) potential benefit. I suppose in theory GOG could use whatever gains they do get and put it towards the website, offline installers, etc. But as we have seen over the years, all they seem to want to pour money into is Galaxy at the expense of everything else here. I don't want to get this topic too off-track, so I'll just say thanks for the discussion.

This is not true. The Steam version almost always has DRM. Even when the game is sold on both GOG and Epic without DRM, the Steam version tends to have DRM. There are some exceptions, such as Superliminal - which is DRM-free if purchased on GOG, Epic, or Steam (but not DRM-free if purchased on any other storefront.) However most games are not like Superliminal. What is more common is situations like Costume Quest, which is DRM free on GOG, Epic and itch but DRMed on Steam.

I've found that PCGamingWiki to be completely accurate as to if the Epic version of a game has DRM or not. I do not believe that they are plotting against Steam by saying that games have DRM when they don't. When that site says that the Steam version has DRM (which is almost always the case), I believe it to be true.

Where PCGamingWiki is inaccurate when it comes to DRM is situations like the save game issue if King of Seas and The Witcher 3, which both have issues if played outside of a storefront game launcher.

Where storefronts (alphabetical order) rank in terms DRM:
- Epic: DRM, not as strictly enforced as Steam
- FireFlower: DRM-free
- GOG: DRM-free, but there are some issues
- IndieGala: DRM-free freebies, everything else is Steam Keys
- itch.io: DRM indifferent, mostly DRM-free
- Steam: DRM
- Zoom: We don't talk about Zoom.

Why not? To avoid getting this thread closed? Yes, it might be good to avoid promoting competitors in this thread, to avoid giving GOG a reason to close it.

Regarding you opinion on steam, you might want to read this:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/keep_your_eyes_wide_open_and_get_the_best_deals_during_our_insomnia_promo_a77de/post741

Zoom? itch.io? IndieGala? Whatelse... they are no competition... just some space-filler.

The only true competition is of course... the mighty Steam, but full of DRM, and yes indeed... Epic can be a challenge. However, i got the feeling, in the long term... it will rather be some sort of "teamwork" with Epic and GoG, both able to provide some different spots. Steam, however, is simply challenging everyone else with what is left. Ultimately, Epic and GoG together might be able to provide a "second force".... on PC.

When it comes to consoles, it is pretty much fixed: Sony and Nintendo both with different customers... are pretty much in the lead and Microsoft is trying to catch up but not truly able to compete. However, most of the bucks is still done by their OS, so they could care less.

Most of the smaller minor shops, with the exception of very small "indie games" do not even provide or own any games themself, instead selling cheap Steam keys... somehow a mess this industry. At least if you enjoy Steam you really could get thousand of keys almost for free. Steam could care less because they make most of the cash by sheer mass... so even if they only charge half the price, they still get bloody rich.

Sorry no... give me some real competitors... not "Steam-pimping" or "Minor provider".

Sure, the huge "advertisement" by using "minor shops" in order to provide cheap keys is another of the success-factors for the mighty Steam because they just are almost "everywhere"... at every single hole on this virtual planet. Other sources of games will have to shout like crazy even being able to notice them, because they are not kinda connected with a big spider-network able to "provide" them fresh customers the whole day... and year after year. Indeed... advertisement is the key to win... because most customers know less about quality, they may not even truly know what it means to have DRM, they just do no care.

In short term this might be good for the industry but in the long term, i am not so sure... because it is just bloated way to much now and at some point the wind will be out of the sails... as it is simply not possible attracting fresh customers near endless with deals that are already... sometimes a joke.

My issue with Zoom is entirely because of things like that guy who works for Zoom making threads calling for a complete boycott of all games on GOG because of a handful of games with DRM. Total conflict of interest there such that I did report that thread and was happy when the moderators closed it. Consequentially, I won't do business with Zoom because Zoom made me not trust Zoom with my credit card number.

As opposed to this thread here, which only educates. I also feel that this thread actually helps GOG out, which I will elaborate on.....

I currently have 89 games on my wishlist, and it grows faster than I purchase things due to the fact that I always have very specific spending limits. This means that however much I'm willing to spend isn't going to be impacted by something like Cult of the Lamb having DRM in it. I'll just purchase something else instead.

I do not even know where to find the "Zoom" Website... i am just lost.

Actually i never had any saving issues with Witcher 3 and i never used Galaxy. I mean, it is okay if you care for DRM-free so much, me too... Still, i just think you are going beyond a healthy approach. Kinda like some people rather want to go on a rampage instead of trying to keep cool and more or less realistic.

Oh, "thanks" for that. There was a lot of great discussion in that thread and it was where many of us boycotters who are disillusioned with GOG were able to discuss another DRM-free store. I've been calling for a boycott of buying on GOG for several years now and putting forth my opinion that it is better to buy the same game on Zoom-Platform, JAST USA, etc when there are both GOG versions and versions on other DRM-free stores. Maybe you should tattle on me too.

Also, I'm sure this will be taken as "advertisement" though it isn't; Zoom-Plat has the option of using PayPal, thus no need for anyone to worry about trusting them with the credit card number.

Hi Lifthrasil

I urge you to contact the mods regarding the way this thread is going,

In my opinion this thread is being derailed and I believe it started here,

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/post1095

and has continued to be led off topic since.

Well, that post was pretty on topic, at least for a personal view of things. Comparisons and discussions about other stores that came after, yeah, those do fit under derailment.

As for Catventurer's admission... I'll keep my comments unstated, but should be obvious.

There is not much room for personal views in a thread which deals with simple facts,

The title of this thread is DRM on GOG: list of single-player games with DRM

If you wish to keep your comments unstated then they are not obvious.

Can we all just stick to the topic please.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game should be on the list of games with multiplayer DRM. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I only have the Epic version from when they gave it away. However the review for the game by hmcpretender on the GOG store page indicates that situation is identical for both versions:

"This is a well made digital adaption of the popular board game which runs flawlessly on Linux using Wine 6.0 with DXVK enabled. Sadly, local multiplayer is not supported and online play requires an asmodee.net account. If not for that I would have rated it 5 stars."
https://www.gog.com/en/game/a_game_of_thrones_the_board_game

Store pages for games really should state how online multiplayer is facilitated when present.