It's not great that they've back-tracked on one of their core pillars, but until we see how it works in practice, I don't think it's worth getting all worked up over. If it means being able to bring new release games from bigger publishers that would not otherwise do business on gog.com, then I think it could be a good thing.

Obviously as an Australian who's seen the sort of price gouging that goes on in Steam, i'm a little concerned that this sort of thing could happen here now. Hopefully, the prices are reasonable and only apply to new release titles that would not otherwise appear on the site.

I would not like to see GoG backtrack on this regional pricing push until i've seen what sort of games we'll get and how they're priced.

I always hear conflicting information on that front, so it's hard for me to have a real solid opinion. I know Australians who say the digital prices in Australia are insane and I know Australians who say the digital prices in Australia are insanely cheap compared to local wages and media pricing. So... conflicting information.

I would guess anywhere in the world where the US pricing is cheaper will say regional pricing is unfair, even if the particulars of their local currency, economy and average wages make the regional prices fair. It's something you can't really rely on internet complaining to form an opinion about. It could be just as equally true that Euro prices in Norway on Steam are absolutely insanely high compared to local market prices and wages. I literally don't know.

Overall though, as a concept, regional pricing is a good thing. Houses in Mexico should not cost the same as houses in San Francisco, and video games in Russia should not cost the same as video games in the United States. That's just common sense. The trick is to do regional pricing RIGHT.

Out of curiosity, and I realize this is an extreme 'what if', but would it be possible to put DRM on an already owned game? Could they go in and stick it on all your titles so the next time you downloaded one (this is irrelevant if you download and backup everything when you purchase) you get stuck with DRM that wasn't there when you first bought it?

yes it is possible

while its physically possible, im not sure that its legally possible, since you specifically bought games under a pretense that they were drm free. Theyd likely have legacy downloads. Though honestly i think gog would sooner close their doors than adopt drm.

Yeah that was what I was thinking, and hoping. It would be bad enough to have the games you don't have ruined and beyond shitty to have the ones you do have ruined.

It depends - there are quite a few countries for whom the regional price is fair, because the regional price was designed for that country's market. But because it is a regional price, a lot of other countries have to pay that same price despite having very different markets and aren't big enough for distributors to differentiate. So they get shafted. Then there is AU and NZ who pay high digital rates because of high physical rates - I've never actually heard the opposite, but maybe there are a few companies that try to be better?

Well a lot of EULAs contain CMA cover-my-ass clauses that allow them to go what they want, but companies generally don't and won't because they don't necessarily want to test the clause in court unless they absolutely have to

Also after already releasing a DRM version of the game it is a little late to try to patch-in DRM since the person who already bought has the DRM-free version forever more :)

At the moment as far as I can tell DRM would have to be either included in a patch or in a fullgame installer

but I don't see them having effective means to inject DRM to already obtained files, very weak maybe with their downloader & even more unlikely if someone uses their browser to DL the games

Big companies have to match the physical version price though, that's just a reality that isn't going away until physical versions do. That's no one's fault but retailers, who refuse to carry an item unless the company promises not to undercut them online.

I thought every who ate the fish got sick or am I remembering wrong?

I know - any AAA game faces that, that's why I understand why gog gave up on 1-world pricing even though I also understand why there are those who are so upset about it

Gog and cdpr got smacked down when they tried to circumvent regional pricing with TW2

Basically RRP on Steam matches recommended retail prices in stores here. ie prices for stuff like Civ V, COD franchise and most other AAA games are priced same as retail. Been there since day one. Retail pricing for PC games have been around $80+ just about forever . Wages are around $19+/hour on average is my guess. 40K+ a year. Cost of living has gone up however and keeps going up. Those prices for games don't go up or down even when our dollar was much stronger against the USD. Digital games *should* be cheaper. But they arent.

A bit of classic Airplane humor never get's old :)

But I must say, shit really has hit the fan on GOG today as it did in that movie!

Australia has GST, so do we.

It ISN'T applied to overseas digital purchases below a certain threshold. If any store claims they are doing it for those reasons they are outright lying. If anyone claims that is the reason they're simply wrong.

"The Government does not currently collect GST on lower value goods for practical reasons – the administrative costs would be higher than that GST collected. A 2011 review found it was not cost effective to collect GST on items under $400 (unless there is duty to collect as well)." from customs.govt.nz

"Generally, there is no requirement to pay duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported goods valued at or below A$1000, except for alcohol (refer to Example 2 where Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) is also payable) and/or tobacco products (refer to Example 4)." from customs.gov.au

I certainly acknowledge that a lot of people honestly believe that the price differential is due to VATs- but it simply isn't.

Equally pathetic when they apply the VAT excuse to non-EU European countries.