Actually there's no reason why they have to release at the same time as steam.

They do not have to, no. But there are reasons FOR them to. The main being an agreement between Steam, GOG, and the developer that to be allowed to digitally distribute their game they must adhere to a strict release schedule. I'm going to bet that most places selling physical copies (I believe all in Europe) are going to have midnight release times Monday night- Tuesday morning.

Where did you get the information that the strict release schedule gog and steam are bound to is exactly that time that steam says is right? I never read anything from Triumph Studios that AoW III is to be released at 18:00 CET. They are a dutch company and they are starting to sell the game on a monday in europe, so as to not let the monday go to waste they surely won't say "please start selling the game shortly before the physical shops close" oO That would be stupid. In new york it's currently 01:32 on monday, so if steam sells on 18:00 CET, it's 12:00 there - that's a nice time to start selling, and that's the reason steam does it - because it's convenient for the american customer. But Triumph Studios is not american ;-)

I clearly remember picking up and playing FTL on gog before it was out on steam. At the time I would have bought it on steam had it been available sooner, not so much nowadays since I don't feel I can trust steam any longer. So I don't know if this is completely different or you're right about some fun ruining agreement, but at this time it seems to me we're waiting on the whims of gog.

A lot to respond to...

I got the exact time from the developer posts on the Steam forums. It is a developer of the game specifically saying the exact time of release. He did not specify Steam release, but just "release". Now, it could well be that this time is ONLY for Steam and everyone else has their own time schedule.

I said there are reasons for them to keep the times linked. I did NOT say that they did. It is entirely possible that the times are determined individually by each and every distributor, retail and digital. There is, however, a LONG history of distributors linking release times of new products so that none of them have an un-due advantage over the other. This is often determined when discussions are held between the various companies, where-in an agreement is often made between all parties.

Again, this is not saying it HAS to be this way, or even that it IS with this game. However, based on history and the current information available, it looks to be the case.

As for the precise time argument.... It is a Monday release. There is NO good time to make such a release, as it will always be too early or too late on a work-night for about half of the gaming population.

It's because of Damned Brick and Mortar stores, they don't want to loose sales to a superior distribution solution.

Which, so far as I can tell, is not happening in USA. The only places selling physical copies are in Europe. Not even Amazon.com is selling physical copies.

You know what peeves me off. And this isn't just about GOG or Steam but all those media suppliers out there.

They have our regions for their pricing models and exclusive access for their regional exclusion contracts. So they can hit us where it hurts when it suits them. But when it comes to us having the ability to access an item on a particular date they make an arbitrary decision on when and where that date occurs. If the release date is indeed 31st march 1800 CET that means I don't access it until the 1st April. No reason why they couldn't unlock items for our individual accounts if they choose to do so. Coding it wouldn't even be too difficult to do.

1st of April, yeah I see what you did there...

well if they don't release it at the exact same time everywhere people will feel cheated for having to wait longer than someone else. So out of goodwill or fear of court publishers will want the release to be at the same time - which leads to Australians having to add a day to release dates. I believe its a good 12-18 hour difference between here and Yankville depending on state.

So really it kinda just comes down to what you consider the same time/date - what your clock says or the actual moment.

My understanding is that's the time Steam usually releases... but GOG usually releases 1200 GMT... that would be 4 hours before Steam release.

I think the first poster is absolutely right. There is no noble reason to delay it for people who are already in the release day.
You say some will feel cheated to for getting it later than others? Won't some feel cheated for not getting it in the normally playable time of their day? The Earth is a big round ball, someone will always get it earlier/later in the release day, so the only logical and most right to everyone decision would be to make it available as soon as the day is on for that person.
Everything else is PR mumbo-jumbo.

I hope to God that you are correct.

Are we seriously waiting till 1700 BST for this game? Im going to game to see if i can get a phisical copy and cancel this as im not waiiting. What a load of crap! not impressed with GOG at all.

Two things:

1) Beware. Retail copies are linked to Steam. I'm not sure if you will be able to play the game immediately or will still have to wait until the Steam unlock time later today.

2) Your choice, but it seems unfair to punish GOG by cancelling your order. They are releasing the game on the 31st of March, exactly the release date that you were made aware of when you preordered.

Patience, grasshopper.