While Steam continues to do well with it being the most popular games store, it seems CD PROJEKT Group's store GOG is really starting to struggle.
CD PROJEKT recently released their latest financial results, along with a call with investors that went over how the whole business is doing. It's not all bad news for them, since they saw overall 38% more sales revenue compared to the third quarter of last year. On the GOG side though, it posted increasing losses and so it's going to be restructured.
Over the current year to date it appears GOG has seen losses of about $2.21 million, which is pretty bad considering the 1.37 million they gained during the same period last year.
They've said that GOG "should focus more on its core business activity - which means offering a handpicked selection of games with its unique DRM- free philosophy" and so there's going to be some changes to the GOG team, with some moving over instead to CD PROJEKT RED. Additionally, they've "initiated reorganization of GOG’s operations" to focus on the "core business" and they're hoping this will "improve its financial effectiveness in 2022".
It's not really surprising, when you think that Epic Games continue to desperately try and turn a profit by pulling more customers to their store and even they don't expect to turn a profit until at least 2024.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: GuestSeems to me like it is exceedingly difficult for any PC game store to be profitable unless they sell Steam keys (or they are a big publisher profitable in other areas), such is the nature of Valve's stranglehold on PC gaming. I know so many linux users don't like a bad word said about Valve but their market power should concern everyone
I mean as a Linux user as far as I'm concerned Steam is the nearly only one that even exists because they're the one of only two (the other is Itch) that I can think of/have ever heard of with an official Linux client or that provide any Linux support. I mean why would I go out of my way to give money to people whose software I can't even run?
I don't consider that a stranglehold at all. It's more like a single loving embrace to turn to in a cold and hateful world.
Even on the Windows side, Valve simply provides more to customers. Steam is just that good. No one has released a compelling competitor to Steam. They seem to think they can break Valve's back without doing that. Why would anyone want to pay the same money somewhere else only to receive less for it? Compared to Steam some of these operations look like spyware distributors or scammers.
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Things may change, if Valve loses their monopoly on owning the games you buy. It could be really hard for them to actually prove that they are a streaming service while selling games, not a stream possibility. After that change (if that ever happens), there would be no "shops" that owns your's already bought game, so the buyer may migrate between Epic Games, Steam or GOG or whatever else.
It's ridiculous, for example, when you buy a game at Steam and may not for some reasons buy DLC for the same game at GOG or any other platform.
It's ridiculous, for example, when you buy a game at Steam and may not for some reasons buy DLC for the same game at GOG or any other platform.
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The main reason I buy games on Steam instead GOG is the easy way to make them run. I have plenty of games on GOG, but I wasn't able to make some of them run on Linux and usually I spend more time tinkering with GOG games than playing. It's not true for every game, but with the old Windows titles it sometimes problem to make them run even with Proton, which is not really easy to use outside Steam if you are not technically savvy.
And the other reason is multiplayer, I usually don't expect the multiplayer to run on GOG. So if I want to buy a multiplayer game I always go to Steam.
The main reason to buy games on GOG for me, is the DRM-free copies of the game. Which is a big bonus for me. The DRM doesn't solve much and it's just adding another thing that will sooner or later stop working. Also I think the games would be cheaper if there will be no DRM involved (no money spent on development of DRM).
Only thing I'm missing in case of DRM free games is the ability to sell old games from your library, like it was common with physical copies. :-(
And the other reason is multiplayer, I usually don't expect the multiplayer to run on GOG. So if I want to buy a multiplayer game I always go to Steam.
The main reason to buy games on GOG for me, is the DRM-free copies of the game. Which is a big bonus for me. The DRM doesn't solve much and it's just adding another thing that will sooner or later stop working. Also I think the games would be cheaper if there will be no DRM involved (no money spent on development of DRM).
Only thing I'm missing in case of DRM free games is the ability to sell old games from your library, like it was common with physical copies. :-(
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Quoting: GuestSeems to me like it is exceedingly difficult for any PC game store to be profitable unless they sell Steam keys (or they are a big publisher profitable in other areas), such is the nature of Valve's stranglehold on PC gaming. I know so many linux users don't like a bad word said about Valve but their market power should concern everyone
I think the root cause in this case is more on the side of Epic. Their aggressive war against Steam, in my opinion, hit GOG hard. Until then, GOG was the main competitor for Steam and was slowly building positions. Then came Epic, it got low prices, and publishers jumped on it because it didn't have that "annoying" DRM-free policy. And on top of that, Epic bribed them to exclusivity.
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CD Projekt has not been lucky recently with the premieres of its productions. Following the launch of the flagship Cyberpunk 2077 last December, the stock lost more than half of its value in the next few weeks. Today the light of day saw a much less important production, which is the mobile game Witcher: Monster Slayer. However, seeing the light of day is too much to say, because the application from the very beginning ... does not work, and the time of completion of the technical work has already been postponed several times...
More - https://www.fxmag.pl/artykul/cd-projekt-ma-za-soba-kolejny-falstart-premiera-mobilnego-wiedzmina-zaliczyla-falstart
More - https://www.fxmag.pl/artykul/cd-projekt-ma-za-soba-kolejny-falstart-premiera-mobilnego-wiedzmina-zaliczyla-falstart
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I'd like a competitor to Steam. Currently publishers go with "their own" platforms for saving the cut steam takes, but for me that's no option. I do not want a dozen tools, so I do not buy games which are not on Steam.
If another platform with a proper Linux client existed which provides games from all publishers we could talk about me installing a second client. But as a buyer, there would need to be incentive to do so - meaning lower prices on the other store, why else would I switch?
And making it "the other one exclusive" is pretty much the same as with their own launchers, they will cut their profits by that by quite a good margin, since a lot of people see Steam as their "gaming platform".
From what we know / hear, Valve seems not to be very flexible on the cut they take, and the 30 percent (which I think are pretty much a fact by now) seems a lot, especially for smaller developers.
It's a cash cow.
If another platform with a proper Linux client existed which provides games from all publishers we could talk about me installing a second client. But as a buyer, there would need to be incentive to do so - meaning lower prices on the other store, why else would I switch?
And making it "the other one exclusive" is pretty much the same as with their own launchers, they will cut their profits by that by quite a good margin, since a lot of people see Steam as their "gaming platform".
From what we know / hear, Valve seems not to be very flexible on the cut they take, and the 30 percent (which I think are pretty much a fact by now) seems a lot, especially for smaller developers.
It's a cash cow.
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Acrophobic Nov 30, 2021
In my case, I only buy from Steam because of the regional pricing. Without Steam's regional pricing, the cost of gaming is too expensive for me so my only choice is either to stop gaming or pirate the game (which almost impossible in Linux).
If GOG start using regional pricing then I might start buying from them. Until then, I'll keep on using Steam.
If GOG start using regional pricing then I might start buying from them. Until then, I'll keep on using Steam.
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Valve isn't publicly traded as far as I can tell, so they don't have to chase profits and forecasts at any cost like a lot of the "evil" companies do. That's not to say they won't become evil at some point, people in power and business practices change.
A monopoly is _never_ good, so it's always worth it to have some competition to turn to. Their dominance/monopoly in the Linux space is unfortunately insignificant, though I find it very hard these days to give money to GOG what with their Linux support being the afterthought that it is.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped Linux support entirely now they're "restructuring".
A monopoly is _never_ good, so it's always worth it to have some competition to turn to. Their dominance/monopoly in the Linux space is unfortunately insignificant, though I find it very hard these days to give money to GOG what with their Linux support being the afterthought that it is.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped Linux support entirely now they're "restructuring".
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I've love to use and advocate for GOG, but they don't offer a Linux client.
I'd love to use and advocate for Itch, but their client still can't even tell me what games I own, so I've largely given up on it.
Origin and uPlay can both get in the sea as attempts by publishers to control their own catalogues. Fair enough, but since it comes at the expense of their customers... not interested.
Epic can get in the sea for two reasons - exclusives and a lack of a Linux client. Nope.
So, yeah, that leaves Valve and the Steam client.
I'd love to use and advocate for Itch, but their client still can't even tell me what games I own, so I've largely given up on it.
Origin and uPlay can both get in the sea as attempts by publishers to control their own catalogues. Fair enough, but since it comes at the expense of their customers... not interested.
Epic can get in the sea for two reasons - exclusives and a lack of a Linux client. Nope.
So, yeah, that leaves Valve and the Steam client.
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Quoting: STiATI'd like a competitor to Steam.
The problem with that is that any potential competitors should have done that a long loooooong time ago. But Valve was left alone. Any competing stores jumped into a niche and didn't directly challenge Steam. Epic is the first to really try, but with Steam's 15 year head start even their free games won't get them close. I don't think there is a reasonable option left for a proper competitor unless some forced library sharing option between stores becomes a thing.
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