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General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
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Posted February 21, 2014
The DRM-Free Revolution Continues with Big Pre-Orders and Launch Day Releases!

Good news! GOG.com is going to bring you more fantastic launch day releases, preorders, and other exciting new content from some of our favorite developers. We've lined up 3 big titles that we will be bringing to GOG.com in the next couple of months for sale or preorder that we think will be hits with all of our gamers; and we have more equally exciting games coming up soon.

If you've been a member of the site for a long time, you may recall that when we launched sales of The Witcher 2 on GOG.com, we had to add in regional pricing. The game cost different amounts in in the US, the UK, the European Union, and Australia. We're doing something like that once again in order to bring you new titles from fantastic bigger studios. Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles. We wish that we could offer these games at flat prices everywhere in the world, but the decision on pricing is always in our partners' hands, and regional pricing is becoming the standard around the globe. We're doing this because we believe that there's no better way to accomplish our overall goals for DRM-Free gaming and GOG.com. We need more games, devs, and publishers on board to make DRM-Free gaming something that's standard for all of the gaming world!

That brings with it more good news, though! As mentioned, we have three games we're launching soon with regional pricing--two RPGs and a strategy game--and while we can't tell you what they are yet because breaking an NDA has more severe penalties than just getting a noogie, we're confident that you'll be as excited about these games as we are. For a limited time, we will be offering anyone who pre-orders or buys one of them a free game from a selection as a gift from GOG.com, just like we did for The Witcher 2.

If you have any questions, hit us up in the comments below and we'll be happy to answer (to the best of our ability).

EDIT: Since we've answered a lot of the common questions already here (and lest you think that we've ignored you), it may be handy for you to check out the forum thread about this and search for staff answers by clicking this link here. (hat tip to user Eli who reminded us that the feature even exists. :)
Posted February 21, 2014
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You know what? I'm actually fine waiting a little longer (despite doing so for two years when I signed up) for certain games to come here DRM-Free and without regionally priced crap. I was getting frustrated over the waiting, but seeing this announcement changes that. I'm honestly worried about this so called "good news" now.
Posted February 21, 2014
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macnbc: The first one has been put in the background for several years now. The focus is increasingly on newer games, and the quality control on what's added to the site has gone way down.
I would like to respectfully disagree on the first assertion, as I do think GOG is doing a creditable job in continuing to bring out old titles. As one of many GOG members who have tried to research the ownership chains of old titles, it is a much more complex process than it may appear. It's not that GOG can't be bothered bringing all these great oldies out, but rather that it can be a positive ordeal to secure the rights to do so.

I do concur that there have been some lapses in QC, notably with releases like Montague's Mount and Dark Matter. But I think some of this is a consequence of being in the "always on" marketplace and trying to secure potential customers as quickly as possible. It's the same principle that causes competing news organisations to release stories before sufficient fact-checking - each wants to snare the consumer first. Thankfully GOG's new 30-day return policy makes retroactive correction that bit easier on the customer.
Posted February 21, 2014
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macnbc: I feel like this is just yet another compromise that GOG's made over the years.

When GOG started it had some central tenets:
*Quality older games that have been otherwise out of legal distribution
*DRM-free
*Flat pricing worldwide

The first one has been put in the background for several years now. The focus is increasingly on newer games, and the quality control on what's added to the site has gone way down.

Now flat pricing is being given up on just because that's what their partners want.

So what happens when the partners want to offer DRM? How long before GOG lets go the last core value they claim to hold so dearly because otherwise it might cost them a title in the catalog?
"The first one has been put in the background for several years now. The focus is increasingly on newer games..."

I might be wrong but isn't it just last year that GOG started offering Indies? Or at worst 2012? That's hardly several years. And even with indies, old games are still being offered at about the same rate as before. This week we had 4 oldies: The two Full spectrum warrior, 7th Legion, and Doomdark's revenge (It's and old game remade to work on current computer).
Posted February 21, 2014
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GOG.com: ...two RPGs and a strategy game...
Well, if you can't share the specific titles, that's certainly the correct thing to say to pique my interest!
Posted February 21, 2014
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As an initial impression I don't like this, but if somehow it meant some killer classics or other titles high on the wishlist could appear, that would be sweet. (I suspect it's mostly just new titles, though.)
Posted February 21, 2014
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SCPM: Questions:
Can we still gift these games to gamers from different regions, and will each region still be getting the same versions of these games?
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TheEnigmaticT: For releases of launch day stuff, I have no idea. We don't have any plans to change what we're offering in the classic game catalog, however.
this seems to be the tradeoff for selling some new games. I'm curious will this apply to only newer/launch day games?
Posted February 21, 2014
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I think I'll take a "wait and see" approach.

Though if ever I had to deal with things that some do with 1$=1€, or get insane prices like Australia, I'll download my large list of games and be heading for the hills, DRM or not.

Until I know how this will effect me, this does make me apprehensive about currently grabbing games on special just to add to a collection that I wouldn't use from said hills.

I'm not sure I really see the point of this announcement, it had only the vaguest details of what is to come at some undefined point in the future. Due to its contents it will only cause wild speculation from probably concerned people, its a pointless announcement. It would have been far better to announce it when you can give full and accurate details along with when it will come into affect. Perhaps I'm becoming jaded but part of me wonders if this wasn't to soften a coming blow, I hope not.
Posted February 21, 2014
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GOG.com: That brings with it more good news, though!
EVEN MORE ? Yayyy.
Posted February 21, 2014
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macnbc: So what happens when the partners want to offer DRM?
What happens? I lose the main reason I have to purchase from here instead of from Steam, and stop purchasing from here entirely.

(I'm pretty sure the GoGfolk know that "DRM-free" is their single biggest point of differentiation, and will fight that one for as long as they can.)
Posted February 21, 2014
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Gonchi: So will you be giving GOG credits to those that will have to pay more due to this?
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TheEnigmaticT: Well, for these initial games we're talking about we have a plan to offer free games from a selected list. Beyond that, it's going to be on a case-by-case basis for a while I imagine. We certainly intend to try and offer something for every game that we sell we regional pricing. We know that 1 euro isn't 1 dollar, and we want to try to offset that.
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ne_zavarj: What other games are you going to release ?
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TheEnigmaticT: I can't say. NDAs carry with them some fearsome penalties. :)
So... can you let us know WHEN we're going to be able to pre-order these titles?

:D
Posted February 21, 2014
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jamyskis: So what's next? Adding DRM because "the decision on DRM is in our partners' hands"?
No. DRM is not negotiable. We had to decide which was more important to us: making more games DRM-Free, or keeping flat pricing? Many games that we could add to GOG.com (DRM-free, even!) are not available to us because of the legal messes that are involved with regional pricing.

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jamyskis: Also, quoting The Witcher 2 is a little disingenuous, because that was not a strategic choice, but rather a court-enforced choice between either pulling it from GOG or applying regional pricing due to a botched agreement with Namco Bandai.
Yeah, that's a case where regional pricing ended up being required for the game, and seeing lawsuits like that has a certain chilling effect on other souls who may be adventurous enough to try DRM-free. This is what had to happen to get more games that are legally tied up with regional pricing available DRM-free.

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jamyskis: I get the feeling that the classic releases are also going to be bumped up in price in the months to come, especially where EA, Activision and Ubisoft are concerned.
We honestly don't know what's going to happen with our classic games (who knows what happens when lawyers get involved?) but we can say that it is in no way our intent to bump up these prices for different regions.
Posted February 21, 2014
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jamyskis: That's a particularly relevant question where Germany is concerned, as we often get censored versions dumped in our laps.
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Impaler26: Yep, i'd like to know if we'll still get uncensored versions here in germany, too. I won't buy any crappy censored versions.
That's exactly what I want to know. I'm not willing buy censored versions of games, not here, not on Steam, not somwhere else.
Posted February 21, 2014
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Dzsono: I understand the dilemma. I expect there will be some kind of incentive (free games to the value overpaid?) to keep in line with GOG's ethos?
Yep. As noted in the post above, we will be offering free games in regions that pay more for these first three games. Beyond that, we will do our best to offer something to users who have regional pricing, but since there's no agreements in place for games we have yet to sign, it's harder to promise things.
Posted February 21, 2014
Just remember:
Minimal wage in Poland: $388,63/month
Avarage wage in Poland: $986,54/month
(both netto with standard employment contract; brutto is a lie :))
So, yeah, think about it setting the regional prices :)
Posted February 21, 2014
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Orolo: could you at least show us whether there's regional pricing on a game (next to the price or whatever, not somewhere where you have to search for it) and what the prices in other regions are?
You'll see the price that you're paying on the game page with the USD equivalent under it. It should be pretty evident.
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Community
General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
(4041 posts)