Yeah, taking on Steam is probably not the best move right now. Can't win that fight. I'm sure there are lots of people who do want a simple, optional client. I'm just not one of them.

New game soundtracks *might* be interesting, and probably wouldn't be nearly as byzantinely strange as regular music and ebook rights can get. A lot of people are used to getting those with the game now though. A move by GOG to sell what is often considered an extra as a separate thing would irritate long-time customers. Plus, Humble Bundle often gives those with the game.

I'd be fine if GOG focused on bringing the weirder well-done indies too. So many indies are generic. Games like Octodad and Jazzpunk are the right direction. Interesting enough to catch attention, executed well enough to stick around. Frayed Knights might also be a good fit, or its sequel since the first one had some noticeable issues despite being a great game.

Night Dive might have hinted that they are negotiating with Disney to re-release Lucas Arts games.

I'd rather GOG brought in the deal directly, at least they would have a longer exclusive deal.... 3 months is pretty shitty for a long wanted one
night dive is all about the money

That would be fantastic!

Oh, and if GOG wants exclusivity they aren't? :P

the change in business model sounds a bit worrying.and care to think what that may mean?. sounds pretty major?

Let's hope this major change in business model is just adding more games and nothing that puts GOG in direct competition to a certain American juggernaut everyone in the world seems to worship...

Oprah?

Why shouldn't Night Dive be entitled to release "their" games wherever they want like any other publisher? The fact alone that they gave GOG a head start with both System Shock 2 and IHNMAIMS makes it clear that they are about more than just the money since an instant Steam release would have meant more instant money - omitting Steam fully, on the other hand, would have been simply stupid, no matter how you look at it.

Also what did you mean with "12 months v 3 months"? Where does that twelve come from?

Baldurs gate and the related RPGS. GOG had 12 months exclusivity which people seem to forget. This should be the benchmark GOG aims for. Are you against GOG having exclusives games for X time for some reason?.
THATS why id prefer GOG had direct contracts with LucasArts or any other publisher onboard.

I'm finding myself having a harder time supporting Night Dive's Steam releases because, with the bias of being a GOG fan, it's less of an opportunity to introduce people to GOG by saying, "Oh yeah, you can get that game exclusively on GOG!" I can understand releasing a highly-desired title like System Shock 2 and IHNM on Steam because Night Dive actually worked hard to uncover the rights and re-release them, and there are enough people wanting it for everyone to make big money, but the 7th Guest/11th Hour, the Wizardry series, and (maybe) the Tommo games showing up on Steam? That just feels like a cash grab to me.

That's just me though. Obviously it doesn't bother you in the same way.

I was kind of worried that a "change in business model" would mean moving away from DRM-free. That'd be my real concern, but it couldn't be. As from one of their videos, "GOG in the past five years", they were adamant about not changing that. Hopefully, it's something both new and exciting.

So let the theories continue. So far possibilities :

Optional Client
Branch into other virtual goods ie eBooks or game soundtracks
New publishers brought on
Push themselves more into delivery platform like Humble has sneakily done (throwing this one out there...)
Opening up to make it easier for indie devs to come onboard? (alpha/beta in conjunction with above) ?

I didn't forget that, I didn't even know about it in the first place (and that I didn't even know about GOG back then, despite being a hardcore oldschool enthusiast, just shows that GOG really didn't make good use of this exclusivity period back then :P). And of course I'm a huge supporter of GOG and wish that they will continue to have and get more very special exclusives that will secure GOG's existence, however, it's every rightsholder's right to release their games wherever they want. How did GOG get exclusives in the first place? By doing stuff nobody else does. However, others have learned to do these things and - let's face it - are partially better at it than GOG. I'm not gonna call everyone a jerk or traitor who doesn't first release his stuff exclusively on GOG or at all. If GOG wants exclusives it's them who have to dig up the classics and sign the first distributional deals, it's not like they are entitled to any exclusivity of classics that others have dug up just because they came up with the idea of digitally releasing oldies.

As a GOG fan I feel the same way. It saddens me that their position as *the* home of classic gaming diminishes. It's just that I have no reason to get angry at others because they don't feel like securing GOG's monopoly on classic games. And I'd rather have a release on both GOG and Steam or even exclusively on Steam than no release at all.