One can hope, and like you I do hope so.

I can agree we have a broader range, and more newer games.
The addition of Good Old Games appears to have slowed down a lot though.
And personally I agree, that GOG have more than enough to not need another store.
So it depends on what you are after.

When we look at the state of availability when it comes to movies and tv shows, we already have a scenario where some releases are no longer being sold on media. So if you want to watch some shows, you have to subscribe to the service where it is available or miss out it seems. Are any of those available to purchase as encrypted (DRM) files, I'm not currently sure.

And I've also already seen that some music is only available at some stores (i.e. Quobuz) as a streaming subscription. And certainly Spotify is not about ownership.

So ultimately we can't say what the future might bring. But it seems like they don't really want us to own things, that they want total control.

Even if we own things, at least the taxes we do not own anymore.

I truly hope GOG never makes enough money because when they do, they will close the store.

After all, then they have made enough money so what's the point of keeping the store open for even more money?

A release of shovelware every day or two does not in any way demonstrate that the DRM-free idea has any strength, and shovelware is what those games you are citing are, with a few exceptions once in a while.

Definitely there is far more shovelware than there are good games being released DRM-free.

And those games are being released on GOG not because the makers of them care about DRM-free, but rather, because their games are of such low quality, that most gamers will never be interested in buying them, so therefore the devs have a vested interest in getting their shovelware games onto as many stores as they possibly can, in hopes that maybe that will somehow get them some more sales.

GOG being "DRM-free" is not at all the reason for the release of a new game "every day or two." And even if it was, is having and endless supply of DRM-free shovelware really of any benefit to gamers? I would argue that no, it isn't.

Timboli is right. DRM-free is a dying concept. DRM-free is going the way of the VHS tape, or the floppy disk, or the cassette tape.

The number of people who care about DRM-free at all is getting less every year, because that group consists mostly of older gamers who were around before Steam was a thing.

Gamers who of the generations for whom Steam was always a thing, 99.9%+ of the time, they couldn't care less about DRM (other than very intrusive & performance-wrecking forms of DRM like Denuvo, which is the only kind of DRM that they care about at all).

I hate that you say this, as it makes me sad, but from all indicators I'm seeing elsewhere, I fear that you are correct.

From discussions I've had on other forums, every time I bring up the subject, I'm met with the following responses:

"Steam isn't going anywhere."
"What are you, some kind of control freak?"
"They have every right to take away your games because all you bought is a license."
"I don't care. I'm only interested in the latest games anyway."
"I don't understand anyone who likes to play old games, so I don't care."
"There's always piracy if all else fails."

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

In a "perfect world" with "perfect friends", they do not need to share the same opinion or same way of approaching things. However, they should stay open minded to every approach, they should not condemn anyone with a different approach and which is most important: Equally supporting any approach by seeing the good things in every approach.

The fact is different: There is almost only one valid and by far most supported approach, the acceptance "outside mostly only one valid approach" is close to none and in general the majority is very susceptible to advertisement and the opinion of the majority of any given community in any given society. So there is always some kind of "major opinion" and the one that is winning is usually the one able to sufficiently drag the attention from this majority... for any given reason. Finally, in most cases there is only one truly valid way and mostly only one approach will truly lead the way. This can be seen almost everywhere... it is not a gamer only thing.

I do not know the exact term of "shovelware" but in my mind no matter which platform, any platform got like 90+% low quality games, reason why i do not own 5000 games, 500 instead (actually more like 350 PC games in my archive)... not really because to less coins or fixed toward one genre only... the main reason is because "over 90% of all games do not pass my sense of quality". Steam, in a percentage, is not having any less "shovelware", although, they do own more quality games as well... which is required in order to balance out the even bigger amount of low quality releases.

I can not find more than a few hundred high quality games, not even on Steam, so it will be hard to ever own 1000 or more i consider "precious". Sometimes even a game i already was considering okay may still become kicked out of my archive because of a big flaw i was noticing at some later point.

However, it is true... people got so many different taste, so every game, the biggest junk even, may still get a bunch of buyers... almost impressive noticing it... even with clearly very low quality detected. Not that they may care... their own taste is holy to them and as well very important is the hype of the society in general, which got a big influence on the majority.

Indeed, i got one genre i can simply not stand: Point and Click... this is simply not my taste, no matter its quality. As well puzzle is not really my thing, but mild puzzle or very high quality puzzle can be enjoyable. In general i may enjoy almost every genre at sufficient quality, RPG the most, space shooter and action adventure second to third rank. A computer game need some pace, flow, with custom... because it is dynamic and interactive, not a movie or card game.

It's not that simple. DRM-Free was never anywhere near mainstream, like those others.

You can call it a niche maybe, but it is probably more a cult.

And that cult is operating in a world that is changing, and the playing field is no longer quite the same.

We live in a world now, where on average, ownership is no longer viewed the same as 10 or more years ago.

The focus now is on easy access and variety and cheap subscriptions ... though I can't help but feel the notion of saving money is actually a fool's paradise, as it is more a case of getting more for the same amount of money, and the temptation is to spend even more to get even more ... a lot more.

What you call shovelware might include old games that didn't get the fame back then or indie stuff that's kinda underrated. Basically one man's trash is another man's treasure kinda thing. I have a couple indie games that could pass as one of those shovelware you mentioned, the kind of game you think doesn't strengthen the concept of DRM-free, at least that's how I feel you're going.

We can only hope to have an even larger coverage of games here or on itch or zoom-platform or whatever, really - cause you point some people here and they somehow find the fault that this or that game isn't covered, so that's one point. Another is word of mouth, which is where I see the trend in those last few posts about DRM-free being a hopeless cause...... but please, keep trying anyway. Even if 9 ridicule you for wanting to... actually own your shit in some form, one might lend you an ear.

Another point is more fuckups from the DRM guys, right? So we got the Crew, right? That made enough people aware to start a petition to do something even if it doesn't go so far. But at least that's something.

Basically, hold on tight. We're still getting stuff, but if we don't hold on to the idea and already write DRM-free off as dead, now we'll be telling the publishers (those who cared) that we don't care anymore. We'll be worse off than before. You don't even need to splurge money and buy games from GOG you won't play either (and please don't do that, buy only what you want), you just need to be enthusiastic about DRM-free, the reason why you're here or on another storefront that provides this kind of product. And I think right now, we have plenty of games just here alone to not need to pop up on the vapor store.

The problem with Gog is not the games, because it has a good catalog.

The problem is the case of user support.

You have a problem and support does not respond to you, I opened up to 6 tickets for a billing problem and I have not received a response.

Then the community support does not exist, Gog Galaxy has problems in aspects such as the overlay that have not been corrected. The Gog Galaxy wish list with requests from more than 10,000 users has been ignored.

Then you go to Steam and they help you without problems.

And the excuse that it is a small company does not work because Steam could say that it is big as an excuse for any problem.

Many small companies have good support. It is regrettable.

May GOG never have a Groupees type situation. I lost all my shovelware.

GOG could shut down overnight, I would lose exactly 0 game.

That’s the main purpose of DRM-free distribution: you no longer have to rely on the store once you got your game.

I know that that's why I hope GOG never pushes shovelware the way Groupees did. It's a slow death.

I am presuming, that what was meant by timppu, is that a store that has been running on the smell of an oily rag for many years, by many accounts, suddenly getting more money than normal, could well mean they decide to cut and run while they can, before they get into debt again.

In other words, they would be seeing their sudden windfall as an aberration and not to be relied upon. This is also supported by your claim or view of 'it can only be to less' ... which GOG likely share.

Many businesses can be somewhat in denial about how well they are doing, and can hang on far too long. If they get a sudden windfall, they are just as likely to decide to cut and run while things are good, rather than risk all again by badgering on. It depends perhaps, on what they attribute their windfall to, and how worn out and drained they feel after years of struggling.

Nah, regarding the GOG revenue it seems almost a draw. They are in average able to sustain no losses but there is as well close to no profit... so we could say in this term it is a "non profit company". Which company could actually honestly say this? Almost no company... other than GOG. Perhaps EGS as well but... EGS is "sponsored" by a single rich owner only (almost) and the main wealth is probably coming from the UE5 engine profit. So the situation is kinda different...

We still forget, it is a sister company of CDPR, so GOG does not stand on its own. In this term "the raise and fall" would be together or actually decided by CDPR and its shareholders. What the shareholders actually want is that GOG is at least not making losses, else they may become kinda furious and it could be difficult for CDPR maintaining it.

If CDPR would decide to let the dividends including their higher ups get all the profits from GOG, as soon as GOG is perhaps making 500 million all of a sudden? I mean even 50 million is already "astounding" in GOGs case. Not sure... because what for? So those shareholders and higher ups could eat twice the turkeys each year at the expense of a busted company and "for security purpose"... so any risk of loss of cash is gone? GOG is not their cash cow... it never was. GOG is some sort of "prestige project" or in the end "image" of caring for the game heritage and they may draw a good amount of customers toward their "main cash cow", just for the sake of having some "good attitude". I mean, which companies could honestly say "they have... in overall... a pretty consumer friendly attitude without to much greed at every single hole"? Image is still worth a good price... especially inside a lake full of jerks...

So, i do not think they are gonna "bust GOG" as soon as the profit is somewhat solid... instead they may simply eat some more turkeys a year and hopefully increase the current conditions for many workers along with the customers demand.

What they truly need is another solid title from the parent company... it could generate billions of wealth if they succeed another time and with fresh trust from the shareholders... even more wealth may become added. They do not need perhaps "a one time 500 million, or at least 50 million-payout" and the new title tag "We was greedy, sorry people for those many years of fake... now you know the truth and now we gonna buy those cars we previously was only able to drive in Cyberpunk! Bye bye!" No... seriously... i think this is a fairy tale.

As for myself, at least, i was buying hundreds of GOG games, which is way more than on any other store for many years already. I was supporting it... and i hope even more people may "play their part" as i think it is worth it having some "alternate competition" in a market already pretty "monopolistic".