It appears things aren't going overly well for game store GOG at the moment, under increasing competition they're starting to feel the heat.
First of all, in a report on Kotaku, GOG recently confirmed that they let go a bunch of staff. They claimed it was only "around a dozen of positions" while also bringing in new staff in other positions. Fair enough, that all sounds quite normal in the business world.
However, Kotaku spoke to an ex-staff member who basically said GOG haven't been doing so well financially. That seems to now be somewhat backed up a little, as GOG just announced today that they're ending their Fair Price Package program. This was the system that users could get wallet funds back on purchases, if the price of the game was more expensive in their country compared with North America.
What's also interesting in this announcement from GOG, is that they said they were able to cover the extra cost from it in the past and still turn a "small profit" which is no longer the case. As they say "With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller.", so it sounds like they will at some point reduce their cut from developers (sound familiar?).
Their current plan for the Fair Price Package program is to continue it until 31st of March, so you have until then if you made use of it. Any funds you're given, will remain with you for 12 months so they won't vanish right away.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: GuestOh, meh. GOG haven't been competing very aggressively, they never put a lot of effort into advertising the platform; which they should have done as soon as GOG Galaxy was ready.
GOG Galaxy isn't ready. There is no Linux version. How can that be "ready"?
30 Likes, Who?
Avehicle7887 Feb 26, 2019
If this means more modern titles to GOG, then it's still a win. I'd rather have more modern games than pay less, at the end they'll still be DRM-Free which is what I care about the most.
9 Likes, Who?
Is Galaxy ready? Where is the Linux version? Where are the sane choices made during the development that are non-invasive. They've added Galaxy-based telemetry to many of the games (e.g. Witcher 3) that tries to phone home if you do not block it by your firewall.
It's part of many Windows “offline” installers that can only be circumvented by using innoextract which does not work on some installers because GOG choose to use a beta version (5.6.2) of Inno Setup that does not exist anymore, because they've decided to skip ahead to 6.0.0. I've been updating my offline backup this month and I've looked into some of the “internal” changes. It's Galaxy that seems to be run during the normal installation process.
At least the missing Linux version of Galaxy means that there are some clean installers.
It's part of many Windows “offline” installers that can only be circumvented by using innoextract which does not work on some installers because GOG choose to use a beta version (5.6.2) of Inno Setup that does not exist anymore, because they've decided to skip ahead to 6.0.0. I've been updating my offline backup this month and I've looked into some of the “internal” changes. It's Galaxy that seems to be run during the normal installation process.
At least the missing Linux version of Galaxy means that there are some clean installers.
8 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Avehicle7887If this means more modern titles to GOG, then it's still a win. I'd rather have more modern games than pay less, at the end they'll still be DRM-Free which is what I care about the most.I'm assuming by more modern you don't mean AAA because it'll be a cold day in hell when AAA devs release anything DRM free.
1 Likes, Who?
GOG is my favourite outlet for acquiring games these days (unless there's a DRM free physical copy to be had), and it will remain so, fair pricing or not. The money saved that way never amounted to significant sums in any case, and if I really feel a price is "unfair" in my currency, I can just wait for the product to go on sale.
So I'm hoping for the best, that their service remains financially viable and stays around so I can continue to own future games. That's certainly more worth to me than a few cents saved here or there in the short term.
So I'm hoping for the best, that their service remains financially viable and stays around so I can continue to own future games. That's certainly more worth to me than a few cents saved here or there in the short term.
5 Likes, Who?
Yep the games distribution marketplace is a crowded one now and with so much competition it's a race to the bottom as far as profits go.
4 Likes, Who?
"Epic store will increase competition, stores will have to innovate or improve" - price gouging screws smaller (i.e. non-Steam) stores, forcing them to remove novel and positive features and lay off employees. Cheers for "competition" through non-competitive means, yay!
16 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Feb 26, 2019
QuoteFair enough, that all sounds quite normal in the business world.No, it is not. Letting go a significant group of (often experienced and long-term) employees without any further notice is never ok.
3 Likes, Who?
Sir_Diealot Feb 26, 2019
It's quite a bit of money for people outside the US, given that often the price is €=$. They should probably have promoted the fair price package a bit more.
I hope it helps them stay afloat and improve.
I hope it helps them stay afloat and improve.
0 Likes
Dang. If Epic arriving ends up squeezing GOG to the wall that's a lousy trade.
7 Likes, Who?
Quoting: hardpenguin"OK" and "normal" are two quite different concepts.QuoteFair enough, that all sounds quite normal in the business world.No, it is not. Letting go a significant group of (often experienced and long-term) employees without any further notice is never ok.
5 Likes, Who?
Quoting: hardpenguinWe don't know the exact specifics of how they were let go or how long any of these people were at the company, you're jumping to conclusions there don't you think?QuoteFair enough, that all sounds quite normal in the business world.No, it is not. Letting go a significant group of (often experienced and long-term) employees without any further notice is never ok.
I'm not saying it's specifically okay, just that it's normal. Every single company I've ever worked for, has let people from certain positions go while hiring for others.
4 Likes, Who?
I gave up on GoG completely some time ago.
There is no proof of any effort on the linux release of their galaxy client, whereas it has been stated on their web page, that they plan "eventually" at releasing it for Linux, there is no communication at all for YEARS, despite it to be the MOST voted feature ever.
The DRM-free argument is sexy, and I was ready to give it credit if I could see at least some effort toward Linux, but yet, all I see, is Valve pushing it hard on every side. So I went from a preference of buying games on GoG, with manual checking for updates, and downloading them via my web browser, to Steam with their games released on Linux, their Steam client with automatic updates, their Steam Link app on raspberry pi, their proton, their encouragement for Vulkan adoption in the industry, and I am missing some!
I think Valve deserves it, and despite my first impression, it's not really a form of DRM, as it's up to the developers to choose to use those on the store (even though, you would have to manually copy files, as no installer is provided for installation outside of Steam)
Last edited by toor on 26 February 2019 at 8:32 pm UTC
There is no proof of any effort on the linux release of their galaxy client, whereas it has been stated on their web page, that they plan "eventually" at releasing it for Linux, there is no communication at all for YEARS, despite it to be the MOST voted feature ever.
The DRM-free argument is sexy, and I was ready to give it credit if I could see at least some effort toward Linux, but yet, all I see, is Valve pushing it hard on every side. So I went from a preference of buying games on GoG, with manual checking for updates, and downloading them via my web browser, to Steam with their games released on Linux, their Steam client with automatic updates, their Steam Link app on raspberry pi, their proton, their encouragement for Vulkan adoption in the industry, and I am missing some!
I think Valve deserves it, and despite my first impression, it's not really a form of DRM, as it's up to the developers to choose to use those on the store (even though, you would have to manually copy files, as no installer is provided for installation outside of Steam)
Last edited by toor on 26 February 2019 at 8:32 pm UTC
14 Likes, Who?
voyager2102 Feb 26, 2019
I have also given up on GOG a long time ago. Their non-effort to bring their Galaxy client to linux despite always being one of the most wished for things on their customer wish list made me appreciate Valve's effort even more. I used to buy at GOG due to their DRM-free games and support of older titles. They really seemed to care for their customers but that spirit seems to have vanished largely from that shop about the time that the Witcher series really took off.
8 Likes, Who?
GOG operates in a different environment to Valve. Linux is completely negligible in their native Poland, they are almost certainly disinterested in Linux themselves and the Witcher 2 debacle was more than enough to turn them away from Linux users almost completely (I think it’s very probable the Galaxy no show on Linux is also due to that) They’re also a publicly-traded company and anything they do that doesn’t bring them profits is a huge liability to their share price. Their shareholders are Polish, so they don’t care about the Linux market at all and any actions to support us will be viewed as nonsensical.
7 Likes, Who?
Sounds like it may be time to download our GOG libraries "just in case", ladies and gentlemen. DRM-free won't count for much if they go bust and we can't access our games.
11 Likes, Who?
Quoting: damarrinGOG operates in a different environment to Valve. Linux is completely negligible in their native Poland, they are almost certainly disinterested in Linux themselves and the Witcher 2 debacle was more than enough to turn them away from Linux users almost completely (I think it’s very probable the Galaxy no show on Linux is also due to that) They’re also a publicly-traded company and anything they do that doesn’t bring them profits is a huge liability to their share price. Their shareholders are Polish, so they don’t care about the Linux market at all and any actions to support us will be viewed as nonsensical.
Can you tell me a (developed?) country where Linux isn't negligible? And the linux release of their client being the most voted feature should tell that there is a non-negligible market, or at least, a community willing to support.
About this Witcher 2 debacle, they didn't show much effort, using a wine-based version, delegated to some other company, with HORRIBLE performance (at first), and sold at the same price than other platform, it looked like pure negligence, and as I don't endorse such actions from those linux griefers, I can somehow understand them, despite them not representing the whole Linux community anyway.
But let's assume that their intentions are not bad toward Linux, and that they are somehow trapped by shareholders. Well, so be it, they are rational, and so am I! If I have to make a choice between them and some others, I'm picking the one that show the most support for Linux, simple enough.
Last edited by toor on 26 February 2019 at 9:17 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
While they're not as committed as other companies (e.g. Valve) to supporting Linux (see GoG Galaxy) they do support Linux (During the "pay a few bucks and get a random game" they gave refunds to Linux users if they got a Windows game. There are also several reports of them helping developer porting or packaging their games for Linux). Also I do respect their stance on DRM. So I wish them all the best, would be sad if they had to close their store.
10 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me