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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
Aw Yeah!
See guys...thats why i love GOG...in the end they always come through.
I read through some of the recent shitstorm and could understand the sentiment behind it...they were angry...not because GOG did something inherently evil...but because they had incredibly high expectations of GOG and GOG was about to fall short of those.
Honestly...i would have trusted them through the changes(though i wasnt much of a fan of those...i can understand)...they have earned as much with me so far.
And in my opinion...they have earned my trust even more now and i sincerely hope this isnt going to bite them later.
I remember the Witcher 2 deal and a lot of the sales that have been going on here...and throughout it all...it was incredibly fair. GOG didnt deserve that shitstorm.
Anyway...go on being awesome...just my 2 cents here.
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sharien: ...And in my opinion...they have earned my trust even more now and i sincerely hope this isnt going to bite them later.
I remember the Witcher 2 deal and a lot of the sales that have been going on here...and throughout it all...it was incredibly fair. GOG didnt deserve that shitstorm. ...
I have to admit that with the rest of the digital and retail doing the same old things, GOG really is an exception and they do exceptional work. They are true industry leaders. Maybe this is really expected too much sometime. On the other hand customers voicing their opinion what's wrong with that? I wonder why GOG really changed their mind? Was is because of 10k posts or what is because sales took a holiday? The protest was mostly civil and it would have died off, would GOG just stayed with the new course.

Just in case it really bites them I hope they adjust their course again. Who knows what the future will bring. One must always be able to adapt if one wants to survive.
I'm thrilled that GOG have listened to feedback on this, as the lack of regional pricing and restrictions has always been one of its main appeals to me as a retailer, alongside the support for old games. Thank you, GOG, and I look forward to buying many more games from you in the future. :)
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sharien: ...And in my opinion...they have earned my trust even more now and i sincerely hope this isnt going to bite them later.
I remember the Witcher 2 deal and a lot of the sales that have been going on here...and throughout it all...it was incredibly fair. GOG didnt deserve that shitstorm. ...
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Trilarion: I have to admit that with the rest of the digital and retail doing the same old things, GOG really is an exception and they do exceptional work. They are true industry leaders. Maybe this is really expected too much sometime. On the other hand customers voicing their opinion what's wrong with that? I wonder why GOG really changed their mind? Was is because of 10k posts or what is because sales took a holiday? The protest was mostly civil and it would have died off, would GOG just stayed with the new course.

Just in case it really bites them I hope they adjust their course again. Who knows what the future will bring. One must always be able to adapt if one wants to survive.
IMHO GoG did its part (in listening to the userbase) now it's our turn to show them that was the right call to make & support them as we travel this lonely path
My two cents:

Flat Worldwide Pricing: Can be good, the US price seems to be balanced for westerners. People living east of Germany might not agree with this.

Regional Currencies: Thank you very much for leaving the currency choiceto me, that is very important to me! Great move!

Concerning "Back to the roots": Well, evolving means failure, mostly. Only the few good things will remain.
As long as you keep being awesome with posts and service like this, I don't see any problem in further experiments. :D
Hey GOG,

DRM-free *IS* super important, and I'm sorry if whatever this 'experiment' was (I guess I didn't notice) somehow made you feel like it took a backseat to something else. Sure, nobody *wants* to spend a bajillion dollars on a game purely for the sake of getting it DRM-free, but that's just basic economic instinct.

I've purchased many games multiple times, just for the purpose of 'voting' with my dollars, to help communicate to the industry that DRM-free is profitable. If a game shows up on GOG that I happen to have already gotten from a HumbleBundle, I'll probably buy it again on GOG, and have.

I haven't purchased some of the more recent releases, which are likely the ones you're associating with the price experiment, but it wasn't because of the price. I know it's impossible for you to know that -- it just looks like a non-purchase from your perspective.

Anyway, it's encouraging to hear you say that you're remaining committed to DRM-free. It's why I come here first, and often ONLY, when I want a game. My steam library remains incredibly small. :)

Game on.
Thank you GOG.

GOG is like a Good Old Game I want to reside on my HD for ever.
The only good choice is to go back to the roots, go back to the exact situation prior to the stupid announcement...

Regional pricing is like a kind of reverse darwinism; survival of the most idiotic...
Post edited March 14, 2014 by LosT_SouL_VL
:o, nice! i missed something, but this sounds great
And here I thought GOG was about to become slightly less awesome because of how shitty the gaming industry has become. Instead they turned that into a chance to reaffirm their awesomeness even further. The effort these guys are making to stand their ground in what is undoubtably an unbalanced fight is way beyond commendable. No single company has ever made me feel half as RESPECTED as GOG continuosly does. It is no longer a matter of finding the better deals, it is a matter of me wanting to feel involved in their fight, me actually caring for them. And they didn't achieve this by some kind of shitty-ass marketing manipulation brainwashing trickery, but by being good sports and showing me that they actually appreciate my being around and throwing some money in their general direction every now and then (appreciating it, as opposed to simply wanting it or taking it for granted). I'm not sure there's actually a point I want to make with all this blabbering, I guess I just wanted to keystroke my amazement away.

May the Light guide you, GOG, as well as all of us goggers. And may this site remain a haven for those with a genuine love of gaming who are enlightened enough to see the difference.
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dahoste:
the experiment was to see if "DRM-free" by itself was enough & regional pricing was introduced for the first time since witcher 2's release.
Well, I don't really care about anything, except the DRM-free thing.

All else I think GOG should have the right to adapt. If they never try to adapt to change (it is inevitable some times) because their costumers (or fans) do not even try to understand their motives, GOG may die, DRM-free may die, and then there will be what remaining for us, Steam? If we, GOG "loyal" (I consider myself Loyal, capital L and all) costumers do not try to understand GOG sometimes, we may lose then in the future.
Ok, some people may buy for other motives here, but for me, the DRM-free games are what really matters here. Regional pricing? Common! Go buy a game elsewhere and see what happens! If that is the only problem for a game to be DRM-free or not, Jesus, PUT THAT REGIONAL PRICING AND RELEASE IT ALREADY!
Anyway, GOG has already decided their new policies, and I only hope for the best for them. They always have my support.
Post edited March 14, 2014 by Bariand
I'm still skeptical. If this is done the way we're supposed to believe, I'll gladly retract my opinion and shop here again. Until then, though, I'm still better off directly buying the games in the UK or US.

The Age of Wonders III offer for example, is giving me a ~10$ coupon for a ~10€ difference. While a nice marketing action, I'm not impressed. Also, even more importantly, I'm not without valid options.
You do have my attention though. I'll reserve my final judgement regarding future products until I see the system.

EDIT: It was pointed out to me that I wasn't paying enough attention when I read the AoW III pricing for Europe. I pretty much have to take back everything but my pessimism.
Post edited March 14, 2014 by Malfeas
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Skiam: Not being a big gamer and only really ever purchasing stuff from GOG I might be ignorant to what this all means. I understand that DRM is essentially a lock that allows a limit on downloads/installs. Does this mean GOG is no longer going to be DRM Free?
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Trilarion: No, the DRM free feature hasn't changed at all in the last time. There you can be assured that all games on GOG are DRM free and probably will stay for a very long time.
Thank you! This clears it up for me!
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SirPrimalform: Thanks, but that's not quite the info I was looking for.

I'll try rephrasing the question.

Does that mean the equivalent price point? e.g. a choice between €4.49 or $5.99 for those in the Eurozone

Or does it mean the equivalent value in USD? e.g. a choice between €4.49 and $6.22 (which is €4.49 in USD at the current exchange rate)
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TheEnigmaticT: That will vary from game to game. For games with regional pricing differences, we will offer credit back to you guys (in the form of game codes now; store credit later) for the approximate difference in the game's price vs. the US (or index) price. In either circumstance, you will be able to pay in your local currency for the transaction. Let's explain by example of our very own Age of Wonders III. The standard edition of the game is $39.99. In the UK, it is 29.99 GBP; for the moment we don't accept any currency so we're charging UK gamers $49.99 USD. That's a $9.99 difference, so we will be providing any UK gamer with a game code good for any game with a full price of $9.99 or less in our catalog. In the future, once we have the capacity, we will allow UK gamers to either pay in USD or in GBP at their whim, but they will need to pay the GBP price for their region.

EDIT: w0rma has pointed out that I'm fundamentally incorrect about VAT here, and we're actually pretty much coming in at "break even" point on any regionally-priced games. I'm dropping this note in here for clarity, and leaving my terrible maths below so you can laugh at me. This is what happens when an American tries to explain VAT... :(

Now, we've mentioned that we are going to be fighting for flat pricing for games, and we mean this. A quick examination of the costs of regional pricing using publicly-available information would show you why: it costs us money. If we're collecting $49.99 USD for the game, that means at industry-standard revenue share of 30%, we get about $15. Since the sale price of the game was $49.99 and VAT in the UK is 20%, that means we owe about $10 USD in VAT. Then the game that you're receiving from us is another $10 USD. That means we've earned $15 from the preorder and our costs are $17, or we're losing about $2 per unit sold in the UK with regional pricing. Keeping in mind that I'm basing my maths above off of publicly-available numbers rather than any inside knowledge I might have, you can see see that we have good reasons to try and get games at flat pricing. :)

For games that do not have regional pricing (like our catalog of classic content), you will be able to pay in regional currency or in USD, depending on your preference, but you will be paying the same flat price. A $5.99 game will be available to you for either $5.99 or £3.49, depending on your preferences.

Hope that answers your questions. :)
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Skiam: Not being a big gamer and only really ever purchasing stuff from GOG I might be ignorant to what this all means. I understand that DRM is essentially a lock that allows a limit on downloads/installs. Does this mean GOG is no longer going to be DRM Free?
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TheEnigmaticT: Not at all, no. DRM is essentially a type of technology that controls what you do with your game after you buy it, whether it limits your installs, prevents you from backing the game up, or anything else. It essentially turns your computer against you, because your computer should generally do what you tell it to, and DRM tries to prevent that.

Regional pricing is wholly related to what happens before the sale--it is the price that you will be asked to pay, based on where you live in the world. Tied closely to that is local currencies; since most of the world doesn't use the USD for day to day transactions, we intend to roll out local currencies for markets all around the globe to help them feel more at home here on GOG, but we're doing so in a way that's different than any other digital distributor that I'm aware of out there, because our focus on this is keeping our pricing fair even as we accept local currencies.
Thank you! This clears it up for me!
Post edited March 14, 2014 by Skiam
You are awesome GOG!

Cheers from Iran.