That's not true that there are only two ways for this to end: there is also the third way, which is the fudge.

The fudge would be where they remove some - but not all - of the game's DRM, and then try to spin doctor that as a "win" for GOG customers.

Y'argh matey version gamers (going by what others have stated in this very thread) already have access to most/all content offline.

I think GOG's going to pull this game from the store next week with some "We're sorry... blabla" and that's it.
IO won't change their, sadly successful, formula they've been deploying since three games just for their GOG version.

Ditto.

2 things have given me extreme dissapointment with GOG... trying to ram galaxy down our throats (Not supporting the plain downloader anymore) and single player games with online requirements (not just Hitman).

Fortunately I use linux downloader for the offline installation copies... if they ever cut off the API to that I'll be done with GOG.

As for the single player games with online requirments... for now I can avoid them, but it's looking like the writing is on the wall... meaning most people will go back to torrents for a better version.

As you can see... I don't comment much and been here since 2008. I have a fairly sizable (for me) GOG library and have almost replaced all my Steam games to go entirely DRM / Launcher free.

What other single player games are you talking about?

There's a list here, some or all which may or may not be relevant for you, depending on your views:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/post1

The most damning, in my opinion, prior to Hitman, are Absolver and CP2077.

Nice. I've been suggesting someone bring this up on r/games also, but I'm not sure anyone has (or it just didn't get many votes there perhaps)

edit: well https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/pvb1e2/gog_says_we_will_not_tolerate_review_bombing/

Re: 2077 mentioned in post 1237, there is a map DLC which requires always online connection to utilize.

I have a question? Has anyone here actually tried to get a response from IOI or you are all just here to do a hate train on GOG? No seriously has anyone bothered to engage IOI on their official forums? Has anyone contacted them on their twitter? Has anyone asked IOI what made them think that it was a great idea to sell their game in such a state on GOG? Can anyone show me what IOI has said on this issue? You people realize that IOI could fix this on their end, right? So why are you only here?

Here is IO Interactive's official page:
https://www.ioi.dk
This is their e-mail:
ioi@ioi.dk
This is their twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/iointeractive
This is their facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/iointeractive
This is the official Hitman discord:
http://discord.gg/hitman

So how about you all go and write IOI an e-mail? Tweet at them? Write them on facebook and ask them why they think that their game deserves 60 euros for the state it is in? I've made this as easy as possible for you. If you want the DRM gone the easiest thing would be for IOI to fix it on their end. GO AND CONTACT IO Interactive!!!

I have a question: who unironically calls legit criticism a hate train? o.0
Oh wait nvm, silly me.....I forgot that it's *current year* and a number of people say such things these days.

The above aside, you must be joking: like a number of corporations, they can(and likely do) delete/ignore any emails/messages they get on the issue through those avenues. The most effective way to get heard is to post such messages on sites/pages they don't control.

Look if you're someone who thinks GOG has been naughty for years because they push Galaxy or whatever then we're not gonna see eye-to-eye. I see Hitman as a massive escalation and violation of their principles like nothing that came before. Like there's no comparison at all, it's a ten ton anvil compared to a grain of sand.

I think the answer to that is pretty obvious: whatever GOG representative they spoke to.

Because it's not IOI's job to uphold's GOG principles. The reall issue isn't the Hitman game itself. The real issue is the shift in GOG's policy regarding DRM and their dishonest conduct. IOI obviously complied with whatever conditions GOG imposed. If IOI alone steps up and fixes the issue, the real, underlying problem will remain. If we don't want to face the same situation again in a month or two with a different game, it's the problem with GOG we need to fix, not with IOI.

this is a minor derail from the topic at hand, but:

as someone who is playing it, i can confirm that vv is an okayish diablo-like. it's a pretty 5/10 game. maybe a smidge higher if you like that kind of thing.

but it has VERY AWFUL challenges that mar the whole thing. [and have bought it down to about a 4/10 game for me. i'm going to finish it, but i'm also going to be quite glad i bought it at a steep discount.]

on that I 100% agree. Before Hitman there were just multiplayer and/or small indie with bugs (or drm that gog could not notice), small cosmetic things etc...
I was not happy but I just said to myself "I will try to avoid gog when possible but still buy drm-free games that are only there".

With Hitman I understand that I need to go full boycot on gog. If I continue to buy games here they will continue to go down.
I was not happy with Gwent, I was not happy with the Deus Ex MD DLC, I was not happy with Galaxy, but they continued to go down because I did not stop buying games.
I'll just stop... there are many drm-free games out there not on the gog store, there are many games on my list that I still need to play, I'll get many more free games from epic, indiegala, humble bundle, steam (and yes, even gog, for free games I'll continue to use it).
I was a gog supporter because I was happy about the service, and even when I was not happy it was still better than any other store... Now it's not. No reason to buy here from now on.