It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that, and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
Few questions:

1)"[...]we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially.[...]"

This mean we will able to stack "leftover" credits from multiple bought game and use them to fully cover the price a new release? I mean, there will be % or time restriction on some release?

2)Are will still getting game content based on region? If not, do you plan to fill the gap?

3)Some multi-player experience require CD-KEY or code to unlock even if the game is "DMR free". Since the future AAA incoming (now or later) titles will likely fall in this category do you plan to offer discounted multiple access option? Also, do you plan to add a visible mark or notice for these type of game? (a simple "Include 1 multi-player access Code" add would greatly help)
Dear GOG!

Staying true to your fundamentals is the way forward.

However, what is holding you back is not the lack of regional pricing or devs being reluctant to publish new releases on your platform.

What holds you back is the lack of two things:

1. Release titles need frequent patches, if not a day-one patch. As a customer who has bought release titles on GOG a number of times, I felt let down too often unfortunately.

REMEDY: allow devs to place a beta-patch on your product download page. Simply release the tools to build this patch to the devs. They know how to handle it. It will save you time as well because if the patch is good, curating for the GOG team simply means to elevate the dev's beta-patch to official release status.

2. It's much harder to find add-ons, mods etc. for your GOG product as it is today.

REMEDY: allow a dev managed community download section for your products, preferable directly accessible from the library page.

In short, these two additions will make a GREAT difference for the value your customers get out of newly released games.

If you implement these changes, your chances of drawing away customers from Steam will multiply, because you will have a DRM-free, fair-pricing and exceptional service. This is what will make GOG attractive for devs and publishers to release their games on.
avatar
Messi_is_Messiah: This is insane people! We can't just let GOG LOSE money on every sale from VAT countries like UK. THIS IS MADNESS. ...
avatar
Trilarion: And the mirror image will be the insane amount of money TRIUMPH WILL GAIN by every sale from VAT countries like UK. It's really MADNESS.

US retail: $40 minus revenue share for retailer (is probably higher because of storage, storefront, production costs, so let's say 50% instead of 30%) means $20 goes to Triumph.

France digital: $55 price minus 30% revenue share = $38 goes to Triumph

They should be swimming in gold already while GOG cannot even pay lunch by the money they don't make.
Indeed, it is absurd. I have previously stated not purchasing these games at all would be the best way to go so GOG doesn't suffer so much and so the publishers know that regional pricing in unacceptable. However, buying the games using the Russian (or perhaps American) prices would eliminate the offer being required and allow GOG to make money whilst also making it clear to publishers that customers here will not play by their rules.
avatar
Licurg: Does anyone keep reading the title as "Getting back to our boots" ? :/
Not really, but then again I am a member of a few bootleg sites, and if GOG actually started to distribute boots, I would be happy.

They might want to start with the ones that were first found through Tangerine Tree project and since officially released. I am sure TDi would be willing to negotiate.
avatar
Quantomas: Dear GOG!

Staying true to your fundamentals is the way forward.

However, what is holding you back is not the lack of regional pricing or devs being reluctant to publish new releases on your platform.

What holds you back is the lack of two things:

1. Release titles need frequent patches, if not a day-one patch. As a customer who has bought release titles on GOG a number of times, I felt let down too often unfortunately.

REMEDY: allow devs to place a beta-patch on your product download page. Simply release the tools to build this patch to the devs. They know how to handle it. It will save you time as well because if the patch is good, curating for the GOG team simply means to elevate the dev's beta-patch to official release status.

2. It's much harder to find add-ons, mods etc. for your GOG product as it is today.

REMEDY: allow a dev managed community download section for your products, preferable directly accessible from the library page.

In short, these two additions will make a GREAT difference for the value your customers get out of newly released games.

If you implement these changes, your chances of drawing away customers from Steam will multiply, because you will have a DRM-free, fair-pricing and exceptional service. This is what will make GOG attractive for devs and publishers to release their games on.
1. The patching issue is a big one I think for a lot people. I think patching could be handled similar to how they do it now but a little different.

They could have two sections:

Left Side - All patches separated for download
Initial release 1.0
Patch A v1.1
Patch B v1.2
Patch C v1.3

There should also be a warning to not to install say v1.3 on 1.1 without 1.2 ect... or a way for the patch to detect that not all the patches are installed so it won't install.

If that is to much of an issue then having a initial release version then a master patch under it with all the patches combined is still a better option then making us re-download the entire game.

Right Side - Entire game patches included
Cumulative release v###

The "New" flag should also remain until the patch is actually downloaded next to the patch. a long with a change list.

2. This could be a simple link added your the download section of the game linking to a page with this info.

If GOG ever gets around to release a DRM free client for there games this could make that process much easier... as the client could scan your GOG games, detect what version you have downloaded and then proceed to download each individual patch that is needed which could be compared to a GOG master list that would be on GOG servers. Then the client could automatically install them. But instead of being like Steam... give us a choice if we would like to update or not.

But for those who want the entire game in one nice installer they would have that option too...
Post edited March 12, 2014 by BKGaming
Sorry to pimp my giveaway again here, but I just wanted to express my gratitude to all the donors, both named and anonymous, who want to celebrate GOG's decision by contributing prizes. The giveaway has swelled from the initial four games to eleven titles now, and that increase is due entirely to the generous souls who also believe in that GOG is moving in the right direction again.

The power of this community is awesome, and may we always use it for good. And for good old games. :)
avatar
NetAndy: Now the real question is, do I want AoW3? :)
avatar
TheEnigmaticT: You gotta admit, it looks pretty sweet.
It looks great. Reminds me of Heroes of Might and Magic.
avatar
GOG.com: Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing.
This to me is the greatest thing that has come out of the recent maelstrom caused by GOG's earlier decision to drop one of their two very important principles i.e. regional pricing. I am genuinely flabbergasted because this is highly unusual, I knew GOG was good to their customers and is one of the main reasons I joined here to support them. But. I never imagined that they would reconsider and adjust according to customer feedback so soon. As it happens I wasn't crying foul over their decision to succumb to regional pricing but I definitely was not happy with it either, I was going with a wait and see approach.

Frankly I never doubted GOG like some doomsday conspirators that the next step would be abandoning DRM free. I trusted GOG when they said that to advance one core principle they were letting go of another but what they didn't realize at the time was how important one world, fair price is to their customers. For that I thank and respect GOG even more than before for reconsidering with adjustment to appease their customers, even suffering a lack of substantial profit for a long term gain.

Now let me give my two cents on why the fight against regional pricing is as important as DRM Free. First of all regional pricing on digital content is ridiculously outrageous to put it mildly and yet it is considered the norm that we should all abide by the rules of the publishers that are simply ported over unchanged from retail distribution. Some people claim that we should vote with our wallets but where has that gotten us, what good voting with the wallet is going to do when every Digital distribution system has regional pricing, how will that change anything, will it make the publishers suddenly realize one morning that now we should remove regional pricing when every digital store out there is offering it? In short voting with wallets has no affect because it is simply a form of protest, for fighting we need a base and that was GOG for a long while until they decided to give up on that, but fortunately they realized their mistake because of the passionate response and are back to championing this cause with their worldwide (not just the United States) loyal customers.

Yet I still see a lot of comments lamenting this decision by GOG with presumptions and hypothetical delusions that this will hinder in getting AAA games like GTA V here on GOG as if that was ever going to happen in the first place. This is exactly similar to the extremist rhetoric that the folks against GOG's previous announcement were spreading about the removal of DRM Free. It may or may not get us some AAA games DRM Free, none of us including GOG can look into the future so I am again going with the logical wait and see approach, but one thing I am damn sure about is that this is a hell of a lot better than the previous alternative of taking regional pricing as the de facto standard while lying down.

Because let me tell you what would happen if the customers stop fighting for their rights, we got a taste of it at last years E3 when Xbox One was slated to be launched with some of the worst policies that were essentially stripping all rights of ownership of content from its customers, had Sony done the same instead of treating their customers with a modicum of respect it would have been the end of video gaming as we know it, where we all would be at the mercy of these companies dictating what is right for the customer instead of the other way around. I don't know about everyone else but I for one am not prepared to <span class="bold">#dealwithit</span>
Post edited March 12, 2014 by stg83
Thank you for listening to your userbase.
""For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices""

What is the difference? Is it correct, that i have to pay the bigger Price again and you just give me some Shopping-Credit back? This is the same in another package. I pay the same and get a bonus. What if i don`t want the bonus? I just want to pay the same money like the whole world. Under the line, i pay more again.
avatar
realchris99: ""For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices""

What is the difference? Is it correct, that i have to pay the bigger Price again and you just give me some Shopping-Credit back? This is the same in another package. I pay the same and get a bonus. What if i don`t want the bonus? I just want to pay the same money like the whole world. Under the line, i pay more again.
The main difference is that they will push more to have a single price for a specific game AND they will add the difference in games from their catalogue so that the client is less disadvantaged by the unfair regional price.

If you are not interested by the bonus, you'll have to wait for the price to become fairer.
avatar
realchris99: ""For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices""

What is the difference? Is it correct, that i have to pay the bigger Price again and you just give me some Shopping-Credit back? This is the same in another package. I pay the same and get a bonus. What if i don`t want the bonus? I just want to pay the same money like the whole world. Under the line, i pay more again.
GOG can't keep just selling old games, they will eventually run out on the games they can legally acquire... to get newer games publishers will want them to have regional prices. GOG is giving you the difference so that your essentially not paying more. You you may have to pay more up front but you getting the equivalent in credit or game codes so that you can get something else.

You're not going to buy one thing here and not buy something else eventually.. if so then why buy it here at all. This is just being picky really. Nobody can ask more of GOG than trying to expand while giving there customers a better value than they would get anywhere else.

You also have the option to wait for a sale or not buy you know...
Post edited March 12, 2014 by BKGaming
You guys really are something very special indeed. Very few companies listen to what their customers want and respond in such a positive way to feedback (even if it isn't too positive). I had considered getting my copy of Original Sin through Steam (I kickstarted so get the choice of where my copy comes from), but after seeing the results of this I will definitely be getting it from you.

Since I first started buying from you I have always bought a game from you instead of elsewhere if you have it in your catalogue. The fact that you put the consumer first is very refreshing in this modern world we live in.

Keep up the sterling work and thanks for standing up for your customers.
avatar
Thar: I think the general line of thought here was: "what, THATS the kind of games they've introduced regional pricing for?"

Regional pricing was presented as a golden key to open up vault of AAA DRM-free titles. No wonder that Age of Wonders 3 as first example has been received with cold. And I find that rather reasonable: there is absolutely no guarantee that better games await down the road. It's not worthy to sacrifice flat prices for a mere chance.

Age of Wonders 3 was also particular bad as justification, since developers already promised GOG version. It was up to them to realize that promise and GOG should be settings terms here.
I didn't know that about AoW3; that is indeed strange. If the developer/publisher already promised that the game would be available DRM-free at GOG, I don't see how they were in a position to force GOG into anything funny.

And yeah, the whole thing probably would have gone down better if they had introduced it along with some real AAA titles, or some classics people had been waiting for for a long time. :/
low rated
"You you may have to pay more up front but you getting the equivalent in credit or game codes so that you can get something else. " And this is another kind of the same bad thing.


Sorry, this is not the solution of the problem. this ist just some trick. if they wanna pay the difference, they have to pay the difference. this is the same situation than before. in this system the credits are growing and i lose more money again, cause i life in another region. this ist just a marketing-gag, but no solution.

"You're not going to buy one thing here and not buy something else eventually.."

This could be the consequence!
Post edited March 12, 2014 by realchris99