The case surely is important as well. It does protect the disc from damage and dust... which is critical for its preservation. On top of that it is a piece of art...

Anyway... a disc is absolutely critical, else the case makes no sense. It is not just a physical art... it is art in several dimensions, guess that is the whole point here.

The casual/normie audience no longer really cares about concepts like ownership. Especially when it'd infringe on comfort. Because yes, putting a disc in a drive instead of just typing a code into Steam is an insurmountable obstacle to many, if not most.

It's not like you're getting nothing. You get some collector items and whatnot, but it's like getting served only sauce with no dumplings.

I don't think they are. These days, as far as Microsoft is concerned, "Xbox" as a general term refers to the broader service (including on Windows PCs), not just the physical console hardware.

Its the norm. Pretty sure there have been several collectors editions and physical editions where people could buy with even a steelbook but no physical game disc with the game being digital.

Most recent one that bummed me out was Black Myth Wukong although they now have released a physical edition.

This was also apparently also the case for God of War Ragnarok (game was digital) and Mass Effect Legendary edition collectors edition.

The recent Playstation network outage resulting in digital games not being playable resulted in some awareness of the importance of physical games although I also saw alot of redditors saying they couldnt play their games from disc as well. Wonder what games they were playing since I was fine with mine.

You then also get how Steam was completely fine following a huge doxing attack so Steam is great/will be fine/PC masterrace which is missing the point but "gamers" will be "gamers" I guess. GOG could have given a big push to be honest

They could have but PC gamers know GOG exists, the platform just suffers from lack of mainstream popular games (as expected since it's "good old games"_. Even games that remove piracy protection don't make their way here anytime soon, they end up on piracy sites first...

Xbox is for those who do not want to buy a gaming-capable PC... as a "budget alternative". MS is PC gaming and a service (console, flatrate-gaming) for many years already...

Playstation is more focused on their own platform and its unique traits. Nonetheless, even Sony is nowadays "multiplatform" and is at least supporting PC as well.

Sounds kinda sad, but as long as many publishers along with the gamers do not want to support GOG even more, it can not be avoided.

The mainstream surely will need more mainstream games, such as Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and preferably "on time"... else it will stay difficult for GOG to become popular "to the masses".

Playing it on my PS5 Pro using a physical disc and of course graphics and performance that is comparable to a solid gamer PC... so, apart from not DRM free... i miss nothing.

I think most games i own on a disc should work without a internet connection but perhaps there are a few trying to "phone home"... as a additional DRM... who knows. So far i can not say which game... as so far i never had a such a issue.

The games, all of them, are completely (with every update) installed on 2 different machines (old PS5 and PS5 Pro) so there is surely no update needed. It only may not work for Online-only games of course... there are just a few and free to play.

Quelle surprise?

Code in a box has been increasingly the standard for over a decade now. Sorry.

Speaking of such, I've recently gotten into eastern games (Ninja Gaiden, Dynasty Warriors, Dead or Alive, Monster Hunter etc) and none of them are available on GOG! For people like this, there is no incentive to come over here. The only DRM-free versions of these games are on the high seas...You'd think if their games are on these sites anyways, it would be best to sell the DRM-versions officially themselves.
Man, I remember when some games used to come with multiple discs since sometimes 1 disc couldn't fit all the content. There would even be a disc dedicated to multiplayer to separate it from the single player content. What a time.

Dragon Age: Inquisition came on 4 DVDs (PC release). Still required Origin activation. Probably the most I've seen as far as data amount goes.

Disc number goes to some older CD releases with 5 or 6 CDs.

That case is for the home-made disc with the GOG offline instraller on it. They're just thinking long-term. ;)

They should include a blank writable disc with a nice hologram that's containing the activation code. That way, you'd at least get something tangible and unique and can burn the GOG install on it once it becomes available.

Some movie discs have serial numbers, which are important to collectors; I know people who love to exhibit the steelbooks and pay a lot extra to get them. It's like collecting stamps or coins or just about anything without practical value. Maybe eventually we'll get cases as an art form on its own.

Perhaps at your home location... who knows.

Legend of Heroes Daybreak 2 for example is since today available as a PS5 BD on my local store...
I hope GOG will get it on time as usual, so at the 14. this time... only reason why i did not get me the BD already.

There are a lake of comparable examples... of very fresh games.

The most critical thing, i think... is if people truly believe those "drugs effects"... instead of simply act accordingly to what they truly feel is true. The world is shaped accordingly to our beliefs.. and actions... it is not a coincidence.

Regarding the game itself - reviews are out and seems like a yet another "maybe on a sale" material at best.

And especially the first 3 minutes of this review are quite concerning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWrDkijow48

Looks like it doesn't come with a game worth playing either.

Obsidian already was on the list of studios where the Ship of Theseus thought experiment applies after all.
Even before the Microsoft buyout.