Done. Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy over the past week.

First post list is updated (that was the only change)

Agreed. I was just looking to see if we've seen a proper closure statement yet, and I still haven't seen one. Just the removal of the title.

While I would agree that an explanation would be desirable, realistically I think it highly unlikely since this is probably a contractual dispute, which may still be being worked on behind the scenes (so any public disclosure could be prejudicial to GOG). The game being removed is the important part.

Been eyeing up THQ's Black Mirror adventure series at a 75% discount - so that's another $7.47 in lost sales for GOG.

Boy, gotta cot the Gog.

I want to know if GOG playtested Hitman before they listed it, which has nothing to do with anyone other than GOG. If they didn't, is it because they can't afford to do quality control/curation, or because they don't care?

I'd also like to know how much of a heads-up they're going to give us before they drop the standalone installers, because it seems pretty clear to me that it's only a matter of time.

An interesting point with regard to testing. Presumably some does take place but given this (and past examples like the Westgate expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2) it's likely not complete, and given the GOG release of Hitman GOTY removed features (key ones in many player's eyes) rather than throwing up a DRM-related error message, testing would have had to have been done by someone familiar with the original release to catch this.

In cases like this, I would suggest GOG's best bet is to be more proactive in monitoring player feedback on new releases and quicker to withdraw games (or at least block future purchases) when "stealth DRM" seems to be in play. In the case of Hitman GOTY, its withdrawal took 16 days which clearly isn't good enough.

QA purpose is to prevent mistakes & defects -and- avoid problems when delivering.
There are plenty of studies proving the cost of QA is lower compared to mitigating/firefighting.
The trade off? QA requires time. And if you add to the mix incompetent leadership with its proactive cutting corners like reducing the cost of QA erasing it (which also includes its allocated time as a bonus...) you get the catastrophic & expensive messy result like CP2077... oh! wait... :)

How many worms can you swallow in a raspberry?

Because GOG is the largest (and only effective) DRM-"free" store, we should hold them to their own standards even higher.
Slippery slope is a fallacy fallacy. It happens more often IRL than a fallacy would have you believe.

The Hitman GOTY incident will never be legitimately closed, since GOG is never going to explain:

a) why they allowed the game onto their store in the first place whilst knowing it was full of DRM, and

b) why it took them weeks to remove it, and

c) what, exactly, GOG was discussing with the devs during those weeks, including whether or not, during that time, GOG was entertaining the thought of negotiating a fudge compromise which would have allowed some of the DRM to remain in the GOG version of the game.

d) why, and by what precise criteria, does GOG selectively cherrypick which games to remove for having DRM, and which games to ignore the DRM that is in them and never do anything about it whatsoever (i.e. Cyberpunk 2077).

How could they not have playtesters that have familiarity with games? There are probably people here that would volunteer to do it, so this is just one more instance where GOG just doesn't seem to care enough to be on top of what they're doing.

After what I've seen in the past year, I think humanity deserves to spend eternity in a bottomless totalitarian clownscape, starting with Denuvo on every game and universal implementation of single player as subscription live service.

But personally I don't want that for myself, so you can add me to your list - though I will sometimes buy games here at 75% off or better if Steam doesn't have them.

It's not foolishness because either they remain so or they don't for one.

Secondly holding people to account for their actions is a historically proven method of ensuring they act ethically.
thirdly that is backed up by behavioral science (if you want to change behavior then positively re-enforce good and or negatively re-enforce bad).

You are afraid they will disappear and if the business model is not viable it surely will.
I am not here to dispute that, only to hold to account a fraudulent state of saying one thing and doing another because my value in the niche solely hinges around DRM.
They could change their name to 'geam' tomorrow with all new company values as it's their company; but their actions have ramifications.
Also they can act in corporate responsibility to understand their market and expand it or even innovate; but they won't (that's once more their choice).

Lastly we are not cutting off our noses to spite our face, we are sticking to our guns in a hostile market that won't change without it and as I have pointed out on many occasions now; that eventually the notion of 'geam' will fail; and so you come to the same end only you have been shill traded hundreds of times before the inevitable collapse.

It would be damaging if all we said failed to be constructive criticism, but alas for GOG it is not; but ignoring those that genuinely explore the issues and suggest solutions is basically spitting in the face of those who earnestly want GOG to succeed.
If fiscal pain is all they will respond to; it's the lever 'they' pulled.

It's more a case of being familiar with a specific game, and being willing to tolerate the DRM-restrictions originally imposed.
But they'd also have to be willing to live in or relocate to Poland - which is apparently a post-apocalyptic wilderness, overrun with crazed mutants. Who'd want to live there? :D

Hey hey....it's not Finland. No need to insult the Polish that way,