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General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
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Posted February 21, 2014
The DRM-Free Revolution Continues with Big Pre-Orders and Launch Day Releases!

Good news! GOG.com is going to bring you more fantastic launch day releases, preorders, and other exciting new content from some of our favorite developers. We've lined up 3 big titles that we will be bringing to GOG.com in the next couple of months for sale or preorder that we think will be hits with all of our gamers; and we have more equally exciting games coming up soon.

If you've been a member of the site for a long time, you may recall that when we launched sales of The Witcher 2 on GOG.com, we had to add in regional pricing. The game cost different amounts in in the US, the UK, the European Union, and Australia. We're doing something like that once again in order to bring you new titles from fantastic bigger studios. Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles. We wish that we could offer these games at flat prices everywhere in the world, but the decision on pricing is always in our partners' hands, and regional pricing is becoming the standard around the globe. We're doing this because we believe that there's no better way to accomplish our overall goals for DRM-Free gaming and GOG.com. We need more games, devs, and publishers on board to make DRM-Free gaming something that's standard for all of the gaming world!

That brings with it more good news, though! As mentioned, we have three games we're launching soon with regional pricing--two RPGs and a strategy game--and while we can't tell you what they are yet because breaking an NDA has more severe penalties than just getting a noogie, we're confident that you'll be as excited about these games as we are. For a limited time, we will be offering anyone who pre-orders or buys one of them a free game from a selection as a gift from GOG.com, just like we did for The Witcher 2.

If you have any questions, hit us up in the comments below and we'll be happy to answer (to the best of our ability).

EDIT: Since we've answered a lot of the common questions already here (and lest you think that we've ignored you), it may be handy for you to check out the forum thread about this and search for staff answers by clicking this link here. (hat tip to user Eli who reminded us that the feature even exists. :)
Posted February 21, 2014
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ne_zavarj: What other games are you going to release ?
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justanoldgamer: He says that Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game they're talking about, he does not say they're going to release it.
Divinity Original Sin is already confirmed for release here. Maybe not one of the three they're specifically talking about though.
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Mivas: So... When do you stop supporting DRM-free, GOG? Because you know, the decision is always in your partners' hands.
God... I'm trying to NOT believe that would happen.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by fortune_p_dawg
Posted February 21, 2014
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jamyskis: Something else people have missed: not only do we in South America now get OUTRAGEOUSLY fucked over by the ridiculous regional pricing (except for steam now)...
Yep. Don't forget the south americans. :)
Posted February 21, 2014
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GabiMoro: 1. Isn't regional pricing a legislation thing not a publisher decision? The price in Europe is higher because of VAT?
No, otherwise GOG wouldn't be able to sell games here for years. Publishers and retailers like to argue it is because of VAT but they price their product much higher than is an actual VAT percentage in the country in reality.

Think of DVD regions. Different technique, same principle. They wanted to adjust prices per region to gain as much profit as they could. Voilà, region-restricted DVDs and players were created. They made these barriers to limit customers purchase options. In the end, it usually cost you same price if you bought DVD in your country or imported from US with all taxes, customs, and packaging included.

Luckily, choices expanded with European Union because now I can buy Deluxe edition of newly released game for a price of crippled Czech edition - now it includes only packaging. Of course, you still hear BS how Czech distribution is incredibly expensive and they have to make these $3.
The problem is becoming with digital distribution which is trying to place these artificial barriers again.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by Mivas
Posted February 21, 2014
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IAmSinistar: I reserve judgement until I see how it's implemented. While being in the States means it doesn't affect me directly, I'm not a dog in the manger that only cares about my own situation. I really hope GOG limits this new regional pricing scheme to as few titles as it can. But thin end of the wedge and all that...
My thoughts exactly.
Posted February 21, 2014
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I feel like this is just yet another compromise that GOG's made over the years.

When GOG started it had some central tenets:
*Quality older games that have been otherwise out of legal distribution
*DRM-free
*Flat pricing worldwide

The first one has been put in the background for several years now. The focus is increasingly on newer games, and the quality control on what's added to the site has gone way down.

Now flat pricing is being given up on just because that's what their partners want.

So what happens when the partners want to offer DRM? How long before GOG lets go the last core value they claim to hold so dearly because otherwise it might cost them a title in the catalog?
Posted February 21, 2014
I have just begun using online game stores and I have a question: does "regional pricing" necessarily imply that the conversion rate is 1-1 (es. 1$ = 1euro), or it might happen to have a different rate (though most of the stores do not choose that way)?
Thanks.
Posted February 21, 2014
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JUST A HEAD's UP GOG: I have bought loads of games here and part of it is because of the fair price. When Steam started they had their prices in dollars and it was the same for everyone and I bought a game every week from them (give or take). Then they started to convert to euros with their dollars= euros scheme. Now I ONLY buy games from them on Christmas deals or such and then only when it's an amazing deal (75% of 90% off). If this is going to happen here at some point (euro=dollars), well you'll get the same treatment...I don't like the feeling of getting cheated, so when that happens (not yet though), you'll lose another customer.
Posted February 21, 2014
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SCPM: Questions:
Can we still gift these games to gamers from different regions, and will each region still be getting the same versions of these games?
For releases of launch day stuff, I have no idea. We don't have any plans to change what we're offering in the classic game catalog, however.
Posted February 21, 2014
GOG still has a great collection of old games (hence the Good Old Games). We allI know no one has to buy here if they don't want to. As long as they offer good deals on games I like, I will consider purchasing from here. I still find GOG to be unique among the digital distributors and appreciate them trying new things (bringing in some DRM-free current games...not particularly the regional pricing thing :) ) When their price is too high, I look elsewhere (or wait!)... as a side, I do hope AOWIII comes out here....and soon!
Posted February 21, 2014
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TheEnigmaticT: Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game we're talking about; it's already launched on Steam for early access with regional pricing, and it wouldn't be very fair of Larian to give our EU and UK users a better value for the game if they buy it from GOG.com later as opposed to Steam now.
Then they shouldn't have released it on Steam with regional pricing.
I thought it could be actually selling point for you for those unfortunate folks in EU and UK, taht they can get it here for lower price than in other stores.

You know, it's not fair to them either that they have to put with Steam to have it, so maybe you could just sell it in form of steam key to make it more fair.
Posted February 21, 2014
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Gonchi: So will you be giving GOG credits to those that will have to pay more due to this?
Well, for these initial games we're talking about we have a plan to offer free games from a selected list. Beyond that, it's going to be on a case-by-case basis for a while I imagine. We certainly intend to try and offer something for every game that we sell we regional pricing. We know that 1 euro isn't 1 dollar, and we want to try to offset that.
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TheEnigmaticT: Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game we're talking about
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ne_zavarj: What other games are you going to release ?
I can't say. NDAs carry with them some fearsome penalties. :)
Post edited February 21, 2014 by TheEnigmaticT
Posted February 21, 2014
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GabiMoro: 1. Isn't regional pricing a legislation thing not a publisher decision? The price in Europe is higher because of VAT?
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Mivas: No, otherwise GOG wouldn't be able to sell games here for years. Publishers and retailers like to argue it is because of VAT but they price their product much higher than is an actual VAT percentage in the country in reality.
Why wouldn't they? If we believe Phil Fish then 30% of the sale income is GOG's cut (same as Steam).

If a game is sold for 10$:
- if a US citizen buys it then the developer gets 7$ and GOG gets 3$.
- if a european buys it then the developer gets 7$, GOG gets 1,33$ while 1,77$ represents VAT (I considered a 20% VAT)

So GOG could still sell games at same global prices but it's much profitable for them to sell the games to US, Canada and so on.

EDIT: spelling.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by GabiMoro
Posted February 21, 2014
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Impaler26: It's sad to see regional pricing coming to GOG! :(

I hope the games from those "big publishers" are worth it (somewhat at least)...
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TheEnigmaticT: Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game we're talking about; it's already launched on Steam for early access with regional pricing, and it wouldn't be very fair of Larian to give our EU and UK users a better value for the game if they buy it from GOG.com later as opposed to Steam now.
I was resolved to buy Divinity: Original Sin at its release here on GOG, but now I'm very undecided. Regional prices means usually that Germans have to pay the highest fees of all. If Larian believe they can offer an US buyer better conditions as a German one, then I'm not willing to reward such a policy.

I'm definitely not blaming GOG for this, it's clear that you have to make concessions and if that's the prize we have to pay for big DRM-free releases, then perhaps it has to be - but I always feel a little cheated with it. Regarding Steam prices: I would never consider to buy a game for standard price on Steam, due they are always much too high for German customers.

But I wonder what will be the next step? Censored games for Germany as it is usual on Steam?
Post edited February 21, 2014 by RS1978
Posted February 21, 2014
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GOG.com: Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles.
So let's say a game is 40$ in the US and knowing greedy publishers it would be 40€ here in EU, how much would it be in $ then? Am I going to get charged about ~55$ (today's conversion rate on google) PLUS PayPal fees for conversion? If that is the case....wow. I'd seriously consider buying a cheaper DRM-infested copy in this case.
Posted February 21, 2014
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Impaler26: It's sad to see regional pricing coming to GOG! :(

I hope the games from those "big publishers" are worth it (somewhat at least)...
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TheEnigmaticT: Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game we're talking about; it's already launched on Steam for early access with regional pricing, and it wouldn't be very fair of Larian to give our EU and UK users a better value for the game if they buy it from GOG.com later as opposed to Steam now.
Impatient people paying more to get it *now* vs. smart consumers waiting for a price drop is a fundamental part of retail. It's a simple exchange of money for time. Some people value having the product now more, and some people value having it cheaper more.

I have no idea how it could considered 'not fair' to make a product with different features available at different times with different price points.

This move makes me wonder about the other GOG values. Witcher 2 was something that was forced on GOG. That was understandable. But this announcement marks a strategic change. I've spent hundreds of dollars here at GOG on the assumption that the central platforms of DRM-free, well-supported games with worldwide pricing would not change. To see one of those values go makes me question GOG's commitment to the others.

The flimsy argument of 'publishers asked for it' doesn't help. Publisher's want DRM. Is GOG going to back down on that too?

Expecting people to pay regional prices *and* conversion fees is a bit over the top. It's probably a matter of infrastructure keeping GOG from supporting this, not intention to screw customers over. But it shows a lack of technical or management ability to update the website, at the same same time as the regional pricing is showing that GOG's management won't stick to their published promises.

This move raises a lot of questions that make me wary of spending money here. Coming on top of the continued technical incompetence with the main page, it cuts my interest in purchasing games on GOG to very near zero. Are there financial problems forcing expansion attempts? Has management decided to compete more directly with Steam? I don't know. I don't even expect to fully find out. But I'm not very interested in putting more of my money in GOG's hands until the confusion and uncertainty clears up.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by HGiles
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Community
General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
(4041 posts)