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Hi all,
A question to the GOG historians (and staff/mods but not high hopes they answering...)

As far as I know, The Witcher 2 had (still has??)
this thing of a free GOG PC backup copy entering the "foreign" product key here

gog.com/witcher/backup

Gugling I found people even saying it worked for Witcher 1 & 3 too...

Also from the gugle results (quoted):

"Each retail PC copy of Wild Hunt will contain an additional GOG.com game code for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt"
"Code exchange works only for the GOG.com game codes contained in the boxed Limited Edition of both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. It won't work for other versions of expansions nor with the base game codes"
source1:
support.cdprojektred.com/en/witcher-3/pc/content-policies/issue/635/gog-com-game-code-boxed-copies-of-the-witc her-3-wild-hunt
source2:
thewitcher.com/ru/exchange

My problem is, none of those pages has any date reference to know if those are still alive, the details and scope (platforms, stores)...


I am considering if I purchase the Witcher 3 somewhere else and claim that backup license here...
you know, to have it twice (as perfectly described: A backup!)

Thanks in advance!
This question / problem has been solved by Ranaynaimage
The retail boxed Edition in Europe (or at least in Germany) only ever had a GOG Key. I expect the discs themselves to be quite useless nowadays.
While you could install from the discs without registering the key, you still had to download the final piece of the game, which was possible without registering.
Even if you can still download that part, you would still be locked out of any updates, and those where quite significant for TW3. Back in the day i made something of an argument, that locking patches behind a registration might be considered a form of DRM, since proper disc gamed never did that before.
Oh, and that installer will install an old, crappy version of Galaxy, whether you want it or not.
As explained on https://www.gog.com/witcher/backup you can claim a GOG copy of either The Witcher or The Witcher 2, if you bought the game for PC or Mac at any store in the world. For Steam, the offer is only valid for games redeemed until March 16th 2022.

Additionally, you can get The Witcher on GOG even if you don't already own it. Add Gwent: The Witcher Card Game to your account (it's free), then claim the Gwent welcome bonus which includes the game.

For a limited time, you could claim The Witcher 3 on GOG if you owned it on PC or console. This offer expired June 23rd 2020.
Post edited November 30, 2022 by Ice_Mage
Many thanks Ranayna & Ice_Mage! And sorry for the late reply

After checking options and prices my best one is directly GOG thanks to the regionaly pricing
And considering those free backup offers seem things of the past already,
I'd take the simple route

Right now the TW3 discount matches the historical highest, I could pull the trigger
(Timely to download the original version before the next gen update
just in case of an overwrite deployment)

But to be honest, locally backing up vgames is not the most exciting duty to me...
And this post from a dev points to "a possible situation"

forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/mods-and-the-witcher-3-next-gen-update.11110486/

I bought TW2 years ago and it lose priority to play it when I learned
I could have bought it in Steam instead to claim it here too for free...
Prices then where the same. Wasn't pleasant news
I'll watch and see how the next gen update goes
It might be the last mistake I need to forget about TW... or not :)

About the solution: Because only one can be marked and both posts of yours are valuable the same
I take the criteria of time. Feel proud folks for your disposal to help the forum members
You make the internet incredible
My Sincere Thanks to you Ice_Mage & Ranayna!

If any mod/staff are reading this: As I got answers, please lock the thread. Thanks
avatar
Ranayna: ping
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Ice_Mage: ping