I did. ???

So you're openly attacking people who don't like DRM-ed games being sold on GOG. And shaming them.

That stupid Cyberpunk 2077 DLC was already a shame, but here half of the game is locked behind DRM! This is a new dimension of shame, GOG. And shame on you too, IO Interactive.

Some yes, but maybe not in high enough of a number that they are going to care.

As always, GOG has plenty of defenders of their latest DRM shenanigans.

And despite its DRM, this Hitman GOTY game is currently the #1 bestseller on their whole store, from which they may well take the message that it doesn't matter too much if they keep putting DRM into their games.

I have defended GOG a lot, but this game does NOT belong here in its current state. I was excited when I saw it, thinking IOI finally made an offline version, but to see otherwise is extremely disappointing. There's a massive difference between some dumb promo items and literally a huge chunk of the basic gameplay. If you just run through the story in this it takes like a few hours, the core of the game is completing the challenges and unlocking items, which is all online only.

I admitted those other examples could set GOG down a bad road, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly and this dramatically. I mainly support GOG for the principle of DRM free, and if they toss that away I'll choose Steam's better client and service every time.

Really?!

I see a lot of people saying they will not buy this game, but not many who say that they will stop buying here altogether. I don't see them losing customers over this.

So even if a small percentage of people buy this game, which I believe some already have and more will, GOG's decision to add this game may well prove to be profitable in the long run.

And if this game does not affect them negatively, nor will the next and the next. With each DRM release, people will get used to it and will cry less and less, and buy more and more. As long as they continue releasing enough DRM-free games to keep the DRM-free crowd happy, I don't think their releasing this and more DRM games will affect them negatively. On the contary.

The logic that says "Bad GOG, why are you releasing DRM games? Naughty boy! Here, let me buy some more DRM-free games from you!" is a logic that can only make them release more DRM games.

The spark that you talk about has been lit a long time ago (Gwent, Absolver, CP2077) and nothing has exploded yet. Nor will it.

You say "it only takes that much of a spark, before stuff will blow up". For you personally, what is that line that if GOG crosses, you will stop buying here? It's not their releasing one game with DRM, I presume.

Edit: never mind, I don't really care anymore :P

So it's a DRM-ed game ... when will you guys learn that we don't want any form of DRM in the games we want to buy from your platform. I swear you guys get out of touch by each day, stick to your core principles.

Important enough to add picture of this.

For those interested - importing a working save from the Steam version is not possible as the GOG version claims it is a Corrupted Save File. So, at the moment I can't even play with the stuff I unlocked earlier on Steam.
Copying the profile save also does not work. Screenshots attached.

I sure as hell won't go through all of this again - even less so with being forced to do this online.
If I find a way to atleast use my unlocks again I will update this post. Fingers crossed.
Later I will contact GOG support with details on why the version they provided/were provided is a glorified demo at best currently, regarding offline functionality.

Updated later for clarification, edit 5: Copying a GOG save to Steam does fail with the same error message. If you look up the error message on the Internet you'll find claims that the save is locked to your account. The Hitman 2016 forum on Steam says that this was changed and saves could be transferred between Steam accounts, however the IOI Support, see below, stated that saves can not be transferred between different platforms.

Added later:
For those wondering about the paths, wanting to maybe also try this:

GOG
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\GOG.com\Galaxy\Applications\54504350291134065\Storage\Shared\Files

Steam
D:\Program Files\Steam\userdata\STEAM-ID\236870\remote

UPDATE, September 27th:
Regarding the save file issue, GOG referred me to IOI support: I did that right away and IOI support refers me back to GOG while saying that saves are generated differently for each platform: I informed both support teams about their individual replies and referrals. Will update once new info arises.

UPDATE 2, September 27th, received another reply by IOI support: To which I replied: UPDATE 3, September 27th, yet another reply from the IOI support: It is still my understanding that the game developer is responsible for the implementation and compatibility of the save files to their game.
For now I will wait how the final implentation of the game on GOG will look like, before nagging any further.

UPDATE 4, September 28th: Received another reply by GOG support, I had also sent them the information given by IOI support: I just realised that no one could possibly understand what is meant by bonus content in the previous sentence, here a snippet from my initial contact with the GOG support(don't know about the character limit, entire correspondence surely reaches that easily): ______________
Edited a minute later: Fixed typo.
Edit 2, 20 minutes later: Added save file paths.
Edit 3 on September, 27th: First update about info from GOG and IOI support team added.
Edit 4 an hour later: Provided full quote from IOI support, beginning was missing.
Edit 5: Changed formatting for better readability and added info about importing GOG saves to Steam.
Edit 6 and 7: Added second and third reply from IOI support.
Edit 8: Added another update from GOG support from September 28th.
Edit 9: Added clarification what is meant by bonus content in the support reply.

I know you're talking to another person, but I would like to share my "line". I would definitely stop buying from GOG if they ever stop to give us the option to play the games from offline installers. As long as this is a possibility, I'll keep getting whatever games I can here because I won't be locked to Galaxy or some kind of launcher thing. But I definitely agree with the whole discussion about this release, it's not only some kind of extra small DLC, is a HUGE part of the game. Even if I have the possibility to play this game offline, I would have a REALLY limited experience.

I'm not sure so sure about that. GOG has lost money recently according to their own financial reports.

It could be partly or mostly or fully due to other reasons. Or it also could be partly or mostly or fully to them having done things like banning Devotion and also lying about the reason why, and/or allowing DRM-infested games onto their store.

My impression is that that bad decisions that GOG continually makes has a cumulative effect of whittling down their customer base over more and more over time. But that's just a theory and I could be wrong about that.

And on the other hand, GOG has plenty of customers who don't care at all about it becoming a DRM store. Maybe they will be enough to sustain it going forward (but maybe they won't).

By plenty of defenders you mean vocal minority on forums? Fact is most people don't use forums at all, or very rarely.

By being this pessimistic you only add to the damage. And don't worry, this Hitman release will hit GOG's reputation hard. Really hard. After CP2077 story the only reputation CDPR left was DRM-Free stance for DRM-Free store.

it says nothing.
you could simply calculate "time since release" / "amount of sales" and you get a high value in the beginning
this statistical value will decrease dramatically each day in comparison to better selling "top" games.
furthermore GOG has the possibility to prioritise games in this list.