Visual record of GOG's release of Hitman GOTY
(content note: clip is sfw, from Seinfeld, and has sound)

I sure hope so, but if they were that competent they wouldn't have released it like this in the first place. ^^;

That said, people should learn to read the fine print regardless....as it's always a useful skill to have.

whaaaa, why this online challenge requires online connection, whaa

oh, Goglodytes...

I can't decide which is worst: that fixing this problem would be so easy (just a local save file that saves your unlocks) or that we who complain will be dismissed as a "vocal minority". Well guess what: it's the same minority who buys a lot more games than your average consumer, who contacts developers and ask them to patch the games on GOG and asks developers on Steam to sell their games on GOG in the first place. I'm also bummed out about the fact that a pirated copy will be superior to the game being sold on GOG - that really sucks.

What are Escalation missions and Elusive Targets? Multiplayer modes or single player modes?

The delusional hivemind bubble this forum is at is absolutely hilarious in terms of how badly disconnected from reality it is. No a person who hangs out at GOG forum to buy Hitman1 GOTY 5years later from release date does not buy more games then average joe. The average customer bought Hitman1 day1. Or got it from various bundles with Steam keys years ago. Or got it on a Steam Sale. Or got it from various Steam giveaways. Or got it when Epic gave it away. Etc. The average customer does not ignore ANY game until it becomes DRM free,let alone one as big and well received as Hitman2016. And it takes one person to email a dev or post a Steam forum topic. Get in touch with reality people lmao.

I have purchased nearly 400 games on GOG. Many of which I already owned on steam or elsewhere, simply because of GOGs policy of no DRM.

I do not have an issue with, and indeed _choose_ to use galaxy because it is a convenient launch platform. While I would prefer multiplayer games didn't require external accounts, I can understand why it would be required. What is completely unacceptable and goes against everything GOG is meant to stand for is locking single player content behind DRM. This game needs to be removed immediately from GOG list until the developer is prepared to play by the rules.

As you can see, I only joined in Feb 2020, but in that time I have purchased nearly 400 games in that short time because I believed in GOG and CD Project Red.

I hope GOG and CD Project Red in general sit down and have a long hard think about what made them so popular with gamers. Act now before it is too late.

No, technically there are zero need to have online connection for those. It's just files, stored on the server - you can bundle them as a pack, and allow to install offline. For the fact that's what developer of fantastic game Brigador does: he packs all best mods into a "DLC" file you can download, and get all the best things hassle-free. B-)

Don't worry, it's literal DRM, called always-online DRM. One of the worst DRMs out there.

There is honestly no reason not to buy this game on Steam at a way lower price, as it has the more or less same DRM-infestation?

It is very sad, that everytime I want to buy something on GOG, I have to make sure it really has no DRM beforehand and additionaly even have to take the risk that the product is not properly maintained and supported. This really prevents me from spending more on GOG than anything else.

Escalation targets missions were missions of rising difficulty that were something like a weekly sets of missions. Obviously originally they were added to the game via online. But not a multiplayer game in the sense of competitiveness, basicaly single player missions

Elusive targets missions were similar but they consisted in a custom enemy available in the map for 48 hours, after that the target would vanish.

The former, hypothetically, could be available for offline play with a bit of work but frankly I am not sure, the later is a feature that apparently is more tied to the servers. In that regard I perceived this game closer to what Diablo III did even for single player modes. Tricky design decissions of the original game.

Anyway due to the original design of the game, some gadgets, outfits etc, were only avaiable to be unlocked and saved when online for use in future playthroughs of the campaign. Different starting points, etc

I think the size of my game collection here will attest that I do. Not all gamers care about the same things.

It may come as a shock to you, but most gamers probably didn't get Hitman. The gaming population is pretty diverse nowadays.

Depends if they use Steam or not. Most PC gamers do, but not all of them. And console gamers don't.

Yes, we're part of a minority group, but you are posting on a website that has historically catered to this group so what do you expect in terms of reaction here?

If we went on Steam and complained, yes, that would be ridiculous, but here it isn't. Context matters.

Its a popular AAA game. It will probably get more attention than most games I care about, with a few notable exceptions, but most gamers still won't play it. Get over yourself.

Well that is an insulting release.

While i found all the "outrage" about "3" cosmetics items are locked between online in Cyberpunk kinda laughable and totally blown out of proportion a lot this release really marks a new low for GOG and actually marks the first game release for me here on GOG which contains actual DRM by my personal standards (i have a kinda "soft" stance regarding multiplayer drm) and then even "hidden drm" as it's not that easy for the customer to directly identify what they are getting and not getting from the game depending playing online/offline without being knowledgeable about the game beforehand.

Should not have been allowed to be released in the first place and paints both GOG and IO in a really bad light.

No idea how the game made it through gog curation regarding the barebones of the "non online" contents. Also the game description aint extensive enough for a game with this limitations.

Also pretty insulting what IO thinks qualifies as a GOG release especially considering the really hefty 18€ as discounted price for a game which was a freebie b4 and in several bundles.
This really seems like a 0 interest in the Platform cashgrab release as they either way could/would have implemented some offline profile solution or otherwise could/should have released it dirt cheap with being really upfront of the limitations of the offline singleplayer experience. Also not releasing 2 here straight away and trying max cash grab for 1 digs into this.

IO just moved to my boycott for sure list.
Same goes for GOG - as long as the game is on the storefront in this given condition with this negligent description i will withhold from any game purchase.

Gee, I wonder... here, have a hint.

Give it a while, maybe you'll figure it out.

I find it amazing how many people don't understand this and are genuinely surprised by this latest low GOG has sunk to.