Posted November 14, 2014

This is what makes GOG such an incredible company.
I'd sure give up the wholesale free games for a return to the no regional pricing stance (still as a matter of principle, as so far there are still only two games (and 3 entries) where it applies to my area as well (AoW3 (both versions but not the DLC) and Vanishing of Ethan Carter)). And maybe more interesting contests with a significant number of prizes, so many will still get the occasional free stuff but if they put some effort into it, which should help them with lasting engagement instead of the momentary traffic spike offered by a freebie.
Do have to wonder where the market will go though. I mean, first you just had shops selling streams of bits at the same prices as boxed editions. Then Steam started having crazy sales and they noticed people spent more money in total if each game was very cheap in itself, ending up buying loads of stuff they wouldn't actually play. Then everyone else noticed that as well and followed suit. Then, since everyone followed suit, instead of something to make a shop stand out it became a requirement to survive, so in order to stand out and attract customers shops started offering free games. As that is starting to become the norm, they're doing it more and more frequently, as the spike is more and more short-lived and any customer base is quickly stolen away by someone else doing the same.
On the one hand, nice for the customer at the moment and can wonder what they'll do next to fight for an ever more fickle crowd... at the expense of anything that'd cement a smaller but dedicated client base, and even taking measures that openly alienate said core following. On the other, I dread the rubberband moment when they'll hit the limit, and it sure seems to be approaching.