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General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 26, 2019
On March 31st we are going to discontinue the Fair Price Package program. Let us explain the reasoning behind this decision.

We came up with Fair Price Package (FPP) as a way to make up the price difference between various countries. Some games on GOG.COM have regional pricing, meaning the price of the same game in one place can be higher compared to its price in North America. In countries where the game is more expensive, we give users the equivalent of the price difference in GOG Wallet funds. In actual numbers, on average, we give users back 12% of the game price from our own pocket. In some cases, this number can reach as high as 37%.

In the past, we were able to cover these extra costs from our cut and still turn a small profit. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller. However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss.

Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.

We wanted to make sure you have some lead time to still benefit from the Fair Price Package. The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019, so if you would like to take advantage of it, now is the time. The funds you gather from the program will keep the 12 months expiration date from the moment you’ve been granted your last funds.
Posted February 26, 2019
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First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
Post edited February 26, 2019 by elcook
Posted February 27, 2019
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elcook: First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
... and since everything's OK again, I'm giving up this whole silly quest, and going back to my hobbit hole. :-P

Edit: Oops... misclicked on the various replies -- oh well, never mind! :-)
Post edited February 27, 2019 by blakstar
Posted February 27, 2019
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Just as a note for those from the US asking for explanations of regional pricing or providing or accepting faulty ones: There is absolutely no actual reason for games being priced above the base price in certain regions other than the fact that publishers can get away with it.
Posted February 27, 2019
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eisberg77: But to be fair, there are a massive number of self publishing developers as well, so a higher revenue cut for them does actually mean more money for them that they can in turn use the extra money to make better games.
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Matruchus: I'm sorry but if 60 or 70% of the final price is not enough for them then they shouldn't be doing business at all. The way the pricing is going since Epics attack on the distribution platforms it will only result in distributors having to close down with time cause the small cuts from sales they will get won't be enough to keep all the store servers and the whole system going. People just think that gog and Steam are only stores. No, they do have huge upkeep costs which developers and publishers don't have to carry. They offer cloud services, multiplayer support, patching systems, client, developer support, marketing stuff, and a lot more. All of that has a cost. Stores are not a charity.
I don't think you understand how ridicolously cheap it is to run a system like this on the corporate level. I work for a company where we are a CDN (Content Delivery Network) which is what companies like GoG, Steam, Epic use, we are also do cloud services, as well as co-location, I see the costs of doing each of these things. The price Epic is doing is very much profitable, estimated is about 7ish% of a games revenue go towards the costs, same with Steam's where about 7ish% of the revenue of the game goes towards costs. The problem is that the Fair Price Program doesn't make sense if they are doing between 10-15% revenue cut, which is probably why GoG has been losing money for all of 2018, cause it looks like they changed their revenue split around the beginning of last year.
Posted February 27, 2019
So big picture.....

What does this mean? Does this mean GOG will be less against certain games coming here now? Meaning we may see a flood of games hitting GOG in the future?

Does this also mean more $$$$$ for the Developers?
Post edited February 27, 2019 by Kelefane
Posted February 27, 2019
Now that i read under the small letters...

Why should we have more "curated" classic games? Can't we simply have, more classic games? "Curated" and "more" is a contradiction in this service, really... :/

It doesn't bode well, it really is a bad sign!
Post edited February 27, 2019 by KiNgBrAdLeY7
Posted February 27, 2019
@elcook: Thanks for the update. I hope GOG continues to live on for a long time, ever since the day I joined 8 years ago, I always felt this is my gaming home, your business methods match exactly what I always looked for.
Post edited February 27, 2019 by Ganni1987
Posted February 27, 2019
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RyaReisender: By the way, does anyone know what the actual new share is that GoG takes?
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Pheace: I'm curious about this as well since the opening posts implies (though little beyond that) that it will be used to lower their cut, but no mention of what the cut will be or when it'll happen.
GOG has a unique approach to digital distribution as we don't just release games "as is" but often spend great deal working on many of them, at times for months leading to release. Think of fixing classics and making them compatible with modern OSs, removing DRM, implementing GOG Galaxy powered features ourselves or operating cross play infrastructure supporting multiple platforms. Therefore there is no universal answer on the question of revenue split that fits all games and partners. Our goal is to balance expectations of our partners with providing a valuable and quality service to you, our customers.
Posted February 27, 2019
GOG will be just fine. This is all about peaks and valleys. Its normal in any business.
Posted February 27, 2019
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Fate-is-one-edge: R.I.P. never forget.
I wonder what is the contingency plan when you shut down the servers.
Will users be handed out Steam keys or there will be a back up server for downloads only?
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Linko64: You can download your games like ever, why would you need a Steam key? This is literally the point of DRM-Free mate.
I guess it would be a safe option to transition to, for distribution to existing customers.

Also why do you still put up with human waste like TinyE and SirPrimalForm?
Post edited May 31, 2019 by Fate-is-one-edge
Posted February 27, 2019
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Fesin: That's good to hear, and it's good that you put out a statement on the forums so soon. But like I said in the other thread, I hope you will put out a statement like that on the front page and eben send out a press release. The Kotaku article already reached a mainstream newspaper in my country, so even if that report is wrong, it could still severely damage consumer trust if that fire is not put out immediately.
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RWarehall: They can't!

They are a publicly traded company. Financial statements must be released on a pre-announced timeframe so that all investors are on an even footing.
I didn't say anything about a financial statement, did I? I'm talking about a public statement similar to elcooks forum post, maybe a bit more expansive and PR-y. If they can post on a forum about that topic, they can send out a press release.
Posted February 27, 2019
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elcook: But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.
By GOG's definition, Soon™ == 132 days
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gogs_english_dictionary
Posted February 27, 2019
high rated
This is when it truly matters folks. We have to support GOG. We have to support CDPR. If we want to see a change in the gaming industry (which is increasingly becoming more toxic by the day) we must support good initatives like GOG, especially during hard times.

We have to show EA, ActiVision, Square Enix and the likes that their way isn't the only way. Let us show them that CDPR and GOG are doing the right thing. Let us show them that there is an alternative to corporate greed and tyranny; let us show them that a consumer friendly company can actually turn a profit by promoting consumer friendly practices.

Whatever GOG has to do to survive, they need our support. I suggest that as long as GOG stays DRM-Free, we should support them no matter what.

Just imagine a future where EA buys up a struggling CDPR. Then five years later they close the studio to cut their loses. Nobody here wants that nightmare to become a reality. This is exactly what is happening to BioWare, and we have to make sure it doesn't happen to CD Projekt Red.
Posted February 27, 2019
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elcook: GOG has a unique approach to digital distribution as we don't just release games "as is" but often spend great deal working on many of them, at times for months leading to release. Think of fixing classics and making them compatible with modern OSs, removing DRM, implementing GOG Galaxy powered features ourselves or operating cross play infrastructure supporting multiple platforms.
Yes! Do good things, but then the hell talk about it! Remember the release of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer?
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_star_wars_episode_i_racer_ab444/post24

That's homestory stuff. Make a video - could even be dark comedy - how this came to be. Put it online. Stuff like that goes viral, if done right. Same for licensing issues. Make it a serial: The Quest for License. Make fun of yourself and the bizarre situations, but at the same time show people what hard work you are doing. If not video - make it a comic strip.

And for newish titles - provide a forum for the devs to talk about their games. People love when the devs participate - see all the upvoted "golden" posts in the release threads. There's potential. Maybe invite some over to Warsaw for a Tyskie or Lech and a live Q&A on Twitch?
Posted February 27, 2019
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elcook: But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.
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kbnrylaec: By GOG's definition, Soon™ == 132 days
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gogs_english_dictionary
hehe nice GOG dictionary. :D

<3
Posted February 27, 2019
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elcook: GOG has a unique approach to digital distribution as we don't just release games "as is" but often spend great deal working on many of them, at times for months leading to release. Think of fixing classics and making them compatible with modern OSs, removing DRM, implementing GOG Galaxy powered features ourselves or operating cross play infrastructure supporting multiple platforms.
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toxicTom: Yes! Do good things, but then the hell talk about it! Remember the release of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer?
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_star_wars_episode_i_racer_ab444/post24

That's homestory stuff. Make a video - could even be dark comedy - how this came to be. Put it online. Stuff like that goes viral, if done right. Same for licensing issues. Make it a serial: The Quest for License. Make fun of yourself and the bizarre situations, but at the same time show people what hard work you are doing. If not video - make it a comic strip.

And for newish titles - provide a forum for the devs to talk about their games. People love when the devs participate - see all the upvoted "golden" posts in the release threads. There's potential. Maybe invite some over to Warsaw for a Tyskie or Lech and a live Q&A on Twitch?
We have an extensive video about our work, thanks to Danny O'Dwyer's NoClip documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffngZOB1U2A
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Community
General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)