I have seen people justify it by mentioning things like Goldberg, Steamless, or saying it's easy to crack. I'm not saying you justify it.

The problem is that things can change on either platform, so I'd prefer to diversify. Also, where I buy most games on sale (up to 90% off sometimes), some I choose to get on multiple platforms (for instance I have the Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Editions on both platforms). Further, last night there were some games I could not get to download on GoG at all (working fine this morning, so it must have been server-side), whereas on Steam, I'm sure they would have downloaded just fine. There are also certain Steam exclusives. I also plan to use GeForce Now to play certain games that I can't run on my PC, and certain games will only run from Steam (in my case I'd like to play Baldur's Gate 3, but GFN won't run it off of GoG).

Yeah I know, it's a bizarre twisting of logic with people of that opinion. "Steam's client reliance isn't DRM because a lot of games you can either Steamless or Goldberg to get it to work" is the weakest of arguments. Just because a protection scheme is easy to break or bypass doesn't mean it doesn't exist nor does it forgive its existence. It's like saying a boat isn't tied to a dock because one can simply cut the rope.

They have no legal in "many cases"? They're not corporate? Take responsibility? The hell are you on about? Like a shitstorm of randomness from you. Hard to understand you with your head so far up your ass, but whatever.

Nothing changes here, you're a dumbass prick so go pound salt. Better yet, submit this exchange as part of your resume to any digital storefront. They'll take you for your quality bootlicking alone. The rest of us should have a section for games that're coming up on expiration so we don't random disappearances from storefronts all around without a proper notice. Would take some effort to implement, but I'd argue that it may even improve sales for those games on the fringes. Even better would be to stop delistings altogether, but that'll take nothing short of a miracle.
Yep, that could happen. Depending on who has the better legal muscle and who honors what. I'm sure that Blizzard would have wanted nothing more than to take GOG's Warcraft down the very day of their announcement. It gets tangled on the backend.

Games that get that sort of treatment would go to the top of my proposed list immediately. Checking that list daily would give a sense if anything there is worth picking up at a glance before its gone rather than wait for newsreels which may cycle out in a busy week.

Sorry you don't understand anything about how anything works. It must be difficult to live in a world where everything seems "random" to you because you're so completely clueless. You actually think most games on GOG are made by giant corporations with legal teams, that's genuinely hilarious. "Bootlicking"? It's obvious that having more notice for delisting would be nice, duh. That's not the issue. But it's not generally feasible for reasons I've explained. Unfortunately you're as ignorant as a brick and as stupid too, so you'll never understand. Just a complete and total waste of space.

i am not even able to shop on steam anymore, because my bank(DNB) blocks all transactions. i can buy games on gog and on microsoft store without issues. i have mostly left steam, because the community got quite toxic. i have therefore been buying more games on gog than on steam lately.

The thing is, without holding in our hands the actual agreements GOG has with the publishers we cannot say for sure the notice they're required to give for a removal of their game from the platform.

It seems to me it could be written (or omitted entirely) that a publisher can remove their product from sale immediately by sending an official removal notice. And that notice may only need confirmation it was sent by the actual IP holder before it is honoured.

So it's quite possible in my opinion that sudden delistings without notice are just as possible as ones with decent warning.

Steam's policy (for example, and as written in their Steamworks documentation) says it's up to the publisher/developer to set the timeline, and it has a fairly straight-forward procedure to follow to take the product down from sale. But as for the in-depth agreement signed I wouldn't have a clue. There is NO mention of a mandatory notice period I've read yet, and I would think GOG doesn't have one either.

Meaning I think delistings happen as quickly as it can be processed according to the timeline given by devpub.

In the case of the delta games I'm pretty sure it was dropped very quickly on GOG. Blizzard gave GOG notice, probably near as much as they gave us.

It would also seem to me as a ridiculous amount of red tape and financial outlay to pay a lawyer to oversee every single delisting event, when written in the agreement are official exit clauses of the contract which can be affected without consultation. Meaning if GOG thinks that the publisher is breaching said contract in leaving, then they involve a lawyer. Otherwise they let them do it, because their agreement says they can. As part of the exit and if there's sufficient time, they might ask the pub whether it's possible to do a final discount period or they arrange one themselves out of their own pockets. In the end very little of this has official bearing on the timeline nor does it necessarily impact the notice GOG gives us. You'd have to know the agreement and ask those responsible in GOG how it all goes before claiming "they know well before they tell customers".

Eh, you could if you wanted to buy a steam gift card from another store with your card and add that to your wallet. But yeah, if it doesn't appeal then it's all good.

I don't use Steam. Don't like DRM, plus I save money limiting myself to only buying games on this platform. If developers want my money they'll sell here, if not, screw em. Got more games than I'll ever play on my gog account anyways.

There are basically two categories of delisting:

1 - Voluntary Delisting
This occurs when the publisher or developer decides to remove the game from the store for some reason. The time period for such a delisting can often be specified in a contract between the store and the publisher/developer.

2- Involuntary or Circumstantial Delisting
This happens when unforeseen events disrupt the sale of the game. Examples include that the IP changes hands, or the publisher or developer is acquired by another company, or here is a legal dispute over IP ownership, among others. In these cases, a delisting cannot be contractually predefined because GOG's existing contract is with the previous IP holder, not the new one. If the IP changes hands, GOG must either negotiate a new contract with the new IP holder immediately or stop selling the game. The timeframe for delisting in this case corresponds to the time it takes for the IP transfer to be legally finalized. If there are legal disputes surrounding the IP, sales are often required to stop immediately until the issue is resolved.

So, provisions can be included in contracts to address the first type of delisting, but not the second type because they are unpredictable.

Who said it is not being DRM because of goldberg? Still there is drm on steam and sometimes it needs removing. This is being why I pay less for the few steam games I buy since I having to do work to make them DRM free/.
A number of AAA games are being more pricey here than on steam. The ones who own the rights treating DRM free fans like idiots. I will pay small premium for DRM free but no more than this.

Not targeting anyone here specifically, but I've had such conversations elsewhere with people in the past. And one argument some stalwart Steam apologists choose when pressed with Steam's client requirement (RE DRM) is that "oh, but I can use Goldberg or Steamless to remove that"... which like I said is a bizarre twisting of logic.

Yeah, there are definitely some companies that are big into price gouging here. Again, if the price never gets lowered on some of these games, I'll just never buy them. There are enough good games here that I can just get something else and wait until hopefully there's a sale if there's something I'm really interested in.
I've also got over 500 games on my GOG account so I really don't need to buy games that often anyways.

I have noticed that going on quite a bit, especially with regard to sale prices, and I don't understand it. Are the publishers really so petty that they feel the need to charge a DRM-free tax? What would be the point?

Few people here are going to switch over to Steam to save the additional 5 percent. And the publisher (or dev) is certainly not going to be raking in the cash from that extra 5% they get from the GOG-faithful, considering that most of their volume comes from Steam anyway, so they'd actually financially be far better off charging a Steam tax instead. But Steam doesn't allow that. So in that case, just make the prices the same and be done with it. Otherwise it feels like the publisher/dev is playing some kind of pointless game with us.