Before getting to my main point, I will give context.

tinyBuild is a publisher of a decent size. They've released 11 games on GOG. Their games have a few issues, mostly concerning missing Deluxe Editions or Soundtracks.

There is an exception though... The Party Hard games.
Party Hard is missing a DLC with 4 new levels and the level editor. Despite this the second game was released on GOG. As could have been expected this resulted in Party Hard now missing a patch and a DLC with new characters and levels.

You might be wondering: Why am I bringing any of this up right now? A friend recently conversed with a tinyBuild employee over Discord, here's a link containing their conversation. https://imgur.com/a/E2mOwjJ

This employee basically stated they will not release these deluxe editions, or the missing DLCs and patch. If they did so people would pirate these. Even though Soundtracks do not include DRM on Steam and despite the fact that DRM on Steam versions is already cracked.

We have contacted GOG support regarding this issue. If tinyBuild does not wish to update their games here out of fear of piracy, why are they selling them to us? They're still releasing new games on GOG but do not wish to actually give us updates? Figured people should at least be aware of these issues.

What a cretin.

Games will always be pirated by those who want to pirate. In fact, a good chunk of pirates don't care if it's version 1.0 or version 2.67907. And it's not as if piracy existed before GOG's little installers, amirite?

This is really interesting. That seems rather definitive.

IMHO, the proper read on this is likely that they lack confidence in their games to sell if pirate versions are available.

This is a common concern, but it's also a concern that isn't stopping other companies from offering their games completely DRM free and even in the past when piracy rates were much higher, developers were able to make a living.

Leisure Suit Larry is an extreme example where they sold more hint guides than total copies of the game, and by a significant margin. lol, you are and I effectively posted the same thing before refreshing.

I'm not sure honestly. You'd think the newest version would already be out there considering Steam does get the updates? I've seen pirates upload cracked Steam versions even when a game is on GOG. Without any need for a crack at all.

He knows what's he's talking. Croatia is basically a pirate country. (Just as Russia and countries of South America)

I have said it before but i agree it's time GOG look into some of the devs/pubs they are partnered with and tinyBuild has been nothing but trouble since day 1, sometimes they take 1 step forward but it's always followed by 2 steps backwards afterwards.
I hate to say it but i would never buy one of their games unless they are 100% completed and been out for many years.

It could be worse tbh since most of the stuff they put out are piece of shit broken games and the few decent devs under them deserve a better publisher.

That is actually quite interesting, did not know this.

Hello, I was the one who talked to the tinyBuild employee. Joined their Discord server to inquire about their games on GOG and was approached by a staff member via DM. As you can see, it did not go too well.

I'd like to say I do not blame the staff member, but my question about an official statement gave them the opportunity to say something that sounded less damning in regards to GOG and its users, so I would definitely like to blame tinyBuild as a company.

I actually wanted to say you're the one who knows what is saying.

I forget where I read it, but IIRC, it was something that Al Lowe said around the time of his KS. I want to say that it was in the KS video, but I can't recall.

It's a shame people were so harsh on that game. That's more or less my impression whether or not Croatia is a pirate country, the size of it is just too small in a global context to be a reasonable justification for not providing that stuff to GOG for sale.

"tinyBuild is a decent publisher."

*continues to detail how they are anything but*

I mean they are. On Steam at least. Decent size I guess with how many games they've published?

Wow. I feel like Tinybuild should be ejected from GOG on principle.

If they literally have a policy of not updating DRM-free releases of games then they shouldn't be here.

EDIT: I made a wishlist wish expressing that sentiment:
https://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/cancel_all_business_with_tinybuild_as_soon_as_legally_possible

Nope sorry, if they sell games to people on one store and then essentially tell them to get fucked regarding updates, no amount of good customer service on other digital storefronts makes up for that douchebaggery. They are assholes who don't give a flying fuck about paying customers and should be called out on their shitty business practices.

GOG should remove their catalogue and refuse further business with them. I'll certainly make sure that I'll never buy any game from them.