Holy hell that is sobering. I haven't seen anyone make that observation and, partially due to being unenthused about spending money here with the current state of things, never noticed in the release threads.

I assure I am not trying to "call out" anyone but since I see SmollestLight is in this topic, is there any way to find out or forward the question: what led to releases apparently not being announced as "DRM-free" anymore?

I don't like to say it but perhaps I misspoke in assuming the anniversary was to celebrate DRM-free gaming? To me, that is the brand association of GOG.com...DRM-free gaming...not Galaxy, not social media, et al.

Here's one 0-calorie e-beer for that. Cheers!

I know, it's terrible, you must feel really hysterical and fear-mongered!

Happy birthday GOG!!!!!!! :party guy:

Congrats on the Anniversary, GOG! Alas, I won't be able to celebrate with you despite LOVING the new releases (I mean, Blood Omen? Seriously?!). So congratulations again, and I look forward to the day I'll be able to buy more games here in good conscience.

I haven't been following GOG's releases all that closely for a while (real life stuff and all that) so I am a bit behind the curve here.

Besides Hitman, what other GOG games are DRM'ed?

DRM on GOG

Here's a link to the forum topic. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Bookmarked and will follow.

I appreciate it.

FCK DRM
FCK HITMAN - Game of The Year Edition
FCK LIARS

Happy 13th anniversary!

I'm glad I joined last year, the fact I can pay with Paypal compared to Steam was a big deal for me, oldies that can run
on my poor's man laptop from 2013 without DRM restrictions too.

You still have a way to go and wishes to fulfill (remember Linux support?) and more. And please stop screwing stuff up, this community is vey passionate about what they believe, don't pull us a Cyberpunk, Hitman or a Devotion situation again, it's a long-term suicide and an embarrassment to the store.
DRM-Free is what this store is about, don't break that premise.

Happy anniversary GOG. You were a bright light in an increasingly Dark Remote Mountain of corporate arrogance. However 13 is an unlucky number for many cultures, and it increasingly looks like your star may burn out if it continues on its current course.
Given this is an anniversary thread, it should surely be appropriate to reflect on the past and speculate on the future. Hitman is a dark stain, but far from unique and those of us with long memories will recall a similar sequence of events playing out in the introduction of regional pricing - initially for Witcher 2 only, then extended to three further games and then GOG's entire catalogue.

Now back then, GOG's M.D. TheEnigmaticT provided copious feedback on why he felt this was necessary - to expand the cause of DRM-free gaming (the initial post states "TheEnigmaticT earlier mentioned that he would eat his hat if we ever brought DRM to GOG.com."). So how about some similar feedback from GOG's current M.D on how and why this situation has arisen?

Aye, that's the question, ain't it?

Gog claims to be DRM-free while some of their actions go in the opposite direction. They should explain or fix this discrepancy right away.
As it stands it looks like Gog stopped being a DRM-free store but it just won't say that because they can't let go of the money from the DRM-free crowd.

Anniversary or not, until Gog solves this I see no reason to celebrate despite some nice games joining the catalog.

We celebrating the first Anniversary of not being a DRM free store? Im not sure im down with this.

....and therein lies the rub. You used to be able to assume that what you bought from GOG was DRM free, but now have to wait for reviews to find out how (subjectively) "little DRM there is that doesn't affect gameplay".

Maybe GOG should trademark that and add it to their landing page "Only minimal DRM allowed in the games we sell (superfine print: subject to what we say it minimal and does not affect gameplay/your experience may vary"). Too long? I'm sure it can be shoehorned in there somehow, just like DRM releases have been shoehorned into the DRM-Free platform.

Surely where gog was and where gog is now is hugely relevant to an event marking the passage of time and change?

Gog was founded on certain principles (your site's words), it gained loyalty based on those principles and if you shirk them it only makes sense that a lot of people would be upset and feel betrayed, not only by your doing so, but by the callous response to them/us.
Gog built itself up as a trustworthy, gamer-centric store; you heavily pushed the drm free aspect & the whole FckDrm marketing, it's what set you apart & created a strong community that formed the bedrock of this site and had a huge involvement in gog's growth.
Now customers are, quite rightly, calling you out for misselling yourselves, poor communication, outright lies & misinformation which seems to have become an increasing trend in the last few years.

It seems like you're just trying to bury what's clearly a passionate issue in the hopes that you can largely ignore it until it goes away which has been another running theme with all your bad decisions lately.