Thank you for this but we did not bring anything to your attention. The moment this was mentioned a blue stated that it is well known that some parts of the game are online only ... so the real question is: why didn't you act when you knew about the state this is in and why did you still release it in this state? Is curation on vacation or too expensive right now? This might sound a bit hostile to you but I assure you, I am completely confused how this could happen in the first place.

Don't know anything about review bombing but if the review is abut the game and states that it is not worth more than a star because it is DRM'd on a DRM-Free store, I would say, that it is perfectly valid and should not be removed. That is the way reviews are SUPPOSED to work. Make a good game, people are satisfied and you get a good review, so everybody will see that this is a well loved game. On the other hand, make a bad game - or in this case a bad version of a game (those reviews would look completely different if your partner would have removed the DRM completely before releasing it here) and you get a good review ... potential customers will see those and buy. If you should interfere with valid reviews the whole idea of a "review" is gone. So please be careful with your decision what you want to remove and what not.

How very Orwellian.

As for the "coming weeks:" instead of that why doesn't GOG just make a promise right now that either the DRM will be 100% removed, or else the game will be delisted off of GOG?

That's a very simple matter to declare. So what's stopping GOG from declaring it?

Seems to me that most likely the time of the "coming weeks" will be used so that GOG & IOI can try to fabricate some sort of fudge, where they leave a lot of DRM in the game, and remove a tiny bit of it, and then present the still-DRM'ed game as a "victory" for GOG customers.

thanks for the heads up! hope you guys and io can come to a resolution.

Why did I come to GOG?

Not the convenience. I can get that with consoles.

Not the pricing. I can get that with Steam.

Not selection. Gloomhaven, Age of Sail, etc? Even many indies do not show up here. (heck, half the games on my older "want to play" list aren't even here... Age of Empires II and III, Empire Total War, Napoleon Total War, Company of Heroes I & II etc.)

Not full experiences. Many GOG games are "gimped," but that was generally MP functionality.

It was all for the DRM-free ownership.

If GOG is now moving toward DRM product, I might as well be buying on Steam and "consulting the internet" for extended offline play, right? What's the difference?

Cranky and haven't had my coffee... but this situation does not sit well.

I agree. "Unreleasing" the game for now would be the more honourable thing to do. Mark it as Coming Soon or something.

I think in this case the uproar is legitimate. Large parts of the single player experience are locked behind always-online DRM. That is against everything GOG says that it stands for. People have been complaining about slippery slope, but until now it was mostly multiplayer and cosmetic stuff which don't afect the core gameplay. However in this instance the DRM affects the core gameplay which should be unacceptable by any standards.

I'm still somewhat wary but thanks. you may want to edit some sort of clarification or the reassurance into your top/stickied post

Well said!

Hey everybody! GOG's CM has finally graced us with her presence. Let's have a nice hello and show extreme gratitude for all the hardwork she has been doing to bridge the gap between GOG and the community! Must be painful to actually have to do your job for once, don't strain yourself there. Wouldn't want you to form a blister from typing out these long statements.

This feedback to GOG's most colossal fuck-up to date is not review bombing, it's showing you the reality of what you've done.

I don't want to dogpile on this stuff going on, but I am really disappointed. I like Hitman and I was excited to see it for sale. Everything seemed fine until I wanted to play on Professional difficulty, the only way to play imo. It's locked behind logging in. Unacceptable. It's a core part of the game. Mastery levels is pretty much progress. WHY is it still locked behind their log in? I know IO likes live content on their game, that's fine, that can be an optional thing to have by logging in. But Mastery and Professional difficulty are very core features to the game.

Effin finally, at least you had the stones to react to this storm in some way. Gives me hope that you will reverse this mistake. For now I am still on the boycott list.

For me as a paying customer never was an issue practically any of the points you write here. Or they do not make my life miserable.

I believe the problem some of you have is that consider yourselves as the "customers", your perceptions the truth, and the solution for supposed GOG problems always your extreme solution or a drama. Nop sorry, I pass.
The "living realities" could be different for others.