GOG has reportedly cut dozens of jobs recently. Here are new details about the situation at CD Projektās subsidiary and the shortcomings of its business strategy.
In what way? I know itās great but I donāt know if Iād call it the last hope for all of gaming. Itās a good store front. Their application has better FOSS alternatives and there are other pretty okay ways to buy games too. I donāt follow them closely. Are they doing anything particular that warrants that description?
Thatās just wrong. They just sell you a license and provide a DRM free game. You are not supposed to continue playing the game if the publisher terminates your license. They just give you the ability to do it, but it has no legal value
Yeah I was aware of that. I donāt know if that constitutes the last hope for all gaming, but itās definitely a positive. Other stores have a much better user experience, and until they rival stores like Steam in functionality and ease of use, actually owning your own game is just a very nice to have feature and nothing more. Of course, I wish all stores did that. I donāt want to have to resort to piracy if my steam library goes poof, but so far I havenāt had to, and piracy is still an ethical choice in that scenario.
My point isnāt that steam is better, but that GOG has a couple nice features and several downsides, and it is by no means changing or saving the industry. They have a long way to go, and I donāt think saving the industry is the end goal for them.
No, but saving the industry is their āhookā, if not explicitly stated as such. I know that every game I buy from them will be impossible to take away from me if I backed up the installers first.
Are you sure? I havenāt played any of Sonyās games on GOG. From reviews, it looks like Horizon still sends telemetry if youāre connected to the internet, but I donāt believe itās gotten the remaster update that mandates PSN. I could be out of the loop though. I do know that GOG caught flak for allowing Hitman 2016 on the store, which is technically playable from start to finish without an internet connection, but the connection to their server gates all sorts of extras, so the customers rebelled and got it removed.
You really need to look at what youāre buying. Whether itās a download, a DVD, or damn floppy disk, youāre still just buying a license. A very revokable license. If itās online, the publisher can cut you off.
GoG isnāt the publisher. Yāall donāt read the shit you agree to, and know fuck all about media distribution. Youāve never owned a video game, a movie, or even a book that isnāt in the public domain. Youāve only ever owned licenses for personal use, and those licenses have always been provisional and revokable. Always. Your ignorance is not change that.
Enhance your calm. I was merely pointing out that the game installers are offline for GOG, meaning thereās not a physical mechanism to cut you off. As you mentioned, if itās online, then they can cut you off, which is true for Steam but not GOG.
And how does that work when they close down and servers that host the games can no longer be accessed to download your license free game?
Wheter you have a revokabke license or not, you still wonāt ever be able to access the gameā¦ā¦ how do people need this explained to them? And yet use this single reason like it matters lmfao.
When you buy a game on a CD or Cartidge, itās up to you to make sure you continue to own it from then on. That is the same model as GoGs digital downloads. You own it, you make sure you still have it on hand for as long as you want to still have it on hand for.
When I buy a game from GOG, it comes with the presumption that I will download the installer in a timely manner and store a copy on my local storage device. Assuming I have good backup practices, thatās really the end of the story. I can build a 100 new computers and install the game I bought on each one. GOG went bankrupt ten years ago? Thatās a shame, but my installer works just as well as when they were kicking.
When I ābuy a gameā on Steam, I technically get an installer, but Steam isnāt going to help me keep it. Those 100 new computers are going to download that installer a 100 times. And if the 51st install comes around and Steam isnāt around anymore? Or Steam decides not enough people play this game anymore and it no longer makes financial sense to host the installer? Well, at that point I guess Iāll just regret not buying the game on GOG.
Those are terminologies corporations care about. But, for real life use there is a difference between a product that can be remotely taken away and products that canāt. Otherwise could be argued there is no difference between a pirated copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 and a legit one, which there is once you try to play offline.
GOG Seels DRM free games that you can download the installers and all necessary files. No matter what they do, once youāve downloaded it, they canāt stop you from playing it.
We give you and other GOG users the personal right (known legally as a ālicenseā) to use GOG services and to download, access and/or stream (depending on the content) and use GOG content. This license is for your personal use. We can stop or suspend this license in some situations, which are explained later on.
How do you use a Steam game after its license was revoked?
By default Steam is a mere download manager without any DRM. You can zip the game folder and back it up anywhere. Whether or not publishers go through the additional steps to enable one or more DRM solution is a different matter. My favorite Steam games have no DRM at all.
They canāt, actually, because they donāt hold the rights to that content, only to GOG and the installer. Once itās installed their distribution and license rights end.
If the game you install has its own license from the rights holder that gets revoked then youāll be in breach of that license, if anything.
How do you disprove that this āGOG contentā are offline installer files that, as long as you keep them backed up, work indefinitely even if GOG revokes your license to download them again?
the reality of the situation is that these 2 things look exactly the same in 99% of circumstance and 100% of circumstances that consumers actually care about
Thatās true for pretty much every product you buy.
The difference is that Ikea isnāt going to take your shelf when they feel like it or if they run out of money. Neither is GOG. Thatās why it matters.
And why does that matter? When they go out of business you canāt download even if you do or donāt have a license.
Thatās why it matters.
Because you now have a game that you donāt need a license that you still wonāt be able to access or play? So how does that make a single fucking difference lmfao.
They donāt, they make furniture. You clearly donāt understand metaphors.
When they go out of business you canāt download even if you do or donāt have a license.
If Ikea goes out of business, you canāt buy their products anymore and the ones you do have you need to protect and make sure they donāt degrade. Your argument is true for every single product, digital or physical.
The games from GOG donāt have any DRM so you can very easily make copies of the game and safely store them elsewhere, even on new computers.
Games that do have DRM lock you down to verify that youāre allowed to play their game, which severely limits how you can use your own product. If that game publisher or developer goes out if business than you canāt play the game that you already have, even if itās kept āpristineā.
People who bought The Sims 4 couldnāt play their offline game because the DRM stopped them, meanwhile people didnāt buy the game were free to play it when they wanted. The legitimate buyers of the game were punished simply because of DRM.
But you donāt need to download it again. Keep good backup practices and itās eternal. If you lose it, thatās the same as losing a physical object you bought at a store. Or if you donāt maintain your backup like you would clean and maintain a physical object you bought, itās your fault you lose it. I can buy a game from GOG right now and keep it and use it until the day I die, then my grandchildren can use it after that.
when the servers are down, youāre fucked regardless.
As long as you keep the files you donāt have to access their servers to play it again. Thatās exactly the same as even physical media. Itās not like a company will send you a new DVD for free if you throw out the one you bought.
Ummmā¦ Thatās the case for disc games too of only being able to retain possession once itās shipped to you and you properly store it. Or any tangible good for that matter. I donāt what point you are trying to make.
That GOG downloaded installers canāt be forcibly deactivated or taken away? Your phrasing is confusing so I donāt think people are able to tell whether you think GOG installers are a good or bad thing, or acting like it is useless and provides no further benefit than DRM alternatives.
The offline installers literally are the files to install the game.
Itās as close as we can get in this day to having the disc and installing from disc long after the publisher was bought out and absorbed so many times nobody truly knows exactly who owns the rights to the game anymore. As long as your disc (in this case, offline installer) was stored safely and is still readable you can install it on a compatible computer (and thatās often the harder part is finding a compatible computer!)
You are just ignoring that the installers can be downloaded and saved. Or even just the game directory can continue to work.
For people who value that it is a difference. Even how the game works is different with how some donāt work offline or lose ability to function offline once verification expires compared to non DRM counterparts.
You are an idiot acting as if DRM and DRM free is the same as though some license terms is the only determining factor.
You are just ignoring that the installers can be downloaded and saved. Or even just the game directory can continue to work.
Dude, no I am not, my very first comment in this chain talked about the needing to download and store it in a non-degrading wayā¦. Fucking hell dude lmfao.
What point are you trying to make here then if I already covered this at the very start?
Iāve read through your various comments, and Iām not sure you see the difference here.
With other platforms such as Steam, you download the Steam program that acts as a single installer for every game on the platform. You have to be logged into a valid Steam account to download a game from their single installer. If you use a new computer, you have to log into Steam and download from Steam. On GoG, you download an installer per game. Those installers can be transferred to any device and download the games even if the computer has never logged into GoG or even connected to the internet. You can store all the installers on an external drive, which you canāt do for Steam.
If Steam eventually dies or your account is banned, you can never install those games again. If GoG eventually dies or your account is banned, you are correct that you canāt download new installers, but you can use any installer you have already downloaded.
If Steam dies or your account is banned, the game you already have downloaded may not even work anymore due to DRM (this is on a game-by-game basis). If GoG dies or your account is banned, your games are guaranteed to still run since they are not dependant on GoG DRM (with a small list of exceptions people arenāt happy about).
You may not care about any of this, but thereās a decent chunk of people who want to keep their games regardless of anything the purchasing company does.
In what way? I know itās great but I donāt know if Iād call it the last hope for all of gaming. Itās a good store front. Their application has better FOSS alternatives and there are other pretty okay ways to buy games too. I donāt follow them closely. Are they doing anything particular that warrants that description?
Theyāre like the only store that actually sells you the game and not a revokable license to a game
I thought itch did that too
They do
Thatās just wrong. They just sell you a license and provide a DRM free game. You are not supposed to continue playing the game if the publisher terminates your license. They just give you the ability to do it, but it has no legal value
Yeah I was aware of that. I donāt know if that constitutes the last hope for all gaming, but itās definitely a positive. Other stores have a much better user experience, and until they rival stores like Steam in functionality and ease of use, actually owning your own game is just a very nice to have feature and nothing more. Of course, I wish all stores did that. I donāt want to have to resort to piracy if my steam library goes poof, but so far I havenāt had to, and piracy is still an ethical choice in that scenario.
My point isnāt that steam is better, but that GOG has a couple nice features and several downsides, and it is by no means changing or saving the industry. They have a long way to go, and I donāt think saving the industry is the end goal for them.
No, but saving the industry is their āhookā, if not explicitly stated as such. I know that every game I buy from them will be impossible to take away from me if I backed up the installers first.
I donāt know if thatās true anymore. There are games on there that require login into PSN after installing.
Are you sure? I havenāt played any of Sonyās games on GOG. From reviews, it looks like Horizon still sends telemetry if youāre connected to the internet, but I donāt believe itās gotten the remaster update that mandates PSN. I could be out of the loop though. I do know that GOG caught flak for allowing Hitman 2016 on the store, which is technically playable from start to finish without an internet connection, but the connection to their server gates all sorts of extras, so the customers rebelled and got it removed.
You never have bought a game even when buying it on physical media. You always purchase a license to the game.
You really need to look at what youāre buying. Whether itās a download, a DVD, or damn floppy disk, youāre still just buying a license. A very revokable license. If itās online, the publisher can cut you off.
GOG installer is offline:
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/valve-reminds-steam-users-they-dont-actually-own-a-darn-thing-they-buy-gog-pounces-and-says-its-games-cannot-be-taken-away-from-you-thanks-to-offline-installers/
https://x.com/GOGcom/status/1844752098145038435
GoG isnāt the publisher. Yāall donāt read the shit you agree to, and know fuck all about media distribution. Youāve never owned a video game, a movie, or even a book that isnāt in the public domain. Youāve only ever owned licenses for personal use, and those licenses have always been provisional and revokable. Always. Your ignorance is not change that.
Enhance your calm. I was merely pointing out that the game installers are offline for GOG, meaning thereās not a physical mechanism to cut you off. As you mentioned, if itās online, then they can cut you off, which is true for Steam but not GOG.
And how does that work when they close down and servers that host the games can no longer be accessed to download your license free game?
Wheter you have a revokabke license or not, you still wonāt ever be able to access the gameā¦ā¦ how do people need this explained to them? And yet use this single reason like it matters lmfao.
When you buy a game on a CD or Cartidge, itās up to you to make sure you continue to own it from then on. That is the same model as GoGs digital downloads. You own it, you make sure you still have it on hand for as long as you want to still have it on hand for.
You own the media but just have a license for the game. You have never owned a game the media has always given you a license to play the game.
Whatever words you want to use, when steam decides you donāt own a game anymore, they can take it away. Iāve had 2 steam games taken away from me.
You download it immediately after purchase, and should archive it somewhere, same as everything else you purchase digitally
ā¦
When I buy a game from GOG, it comes with the presumption that I will download the installer in a timely manner and store a copy on my local storage device. Assuming I have good backup practices, thatās really the end of the story. I can build a 100 new computers and install the game I bought on each one. GOG went bankrupt ten years ago? Thatās a shame, but my installer works just as well as when they were kicking.
When I ābuy a gameā on Steam, I technically get an installer, but Steam isnāt going to help me keep it. Those 100 new computers are going to download that installer a 100 times. And if the 51st install comes around and Steam isnāt around anymore? Or Steam decides not enough people play this game anymore and it no longer makes financial sense to host the installer? Well, at that point I guess Iāll just regret not buying the game on GOG.
How do you need a simple concept like a backup explained to you? All while being smugā¦
Those are terminologies corporations care about. But, for real life use there is a difference between a product that can be remotely taken away and products that canāt. Otherwise could be argued there is no difference between a pirated copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 and a legit one, which there is once you try to play offline.
GOG Seels DRM free games that you can download the installers and all necessary files. No matter what they do, once youāve downloaded it, they canāt stop you from playing it.
I hope youāre paid well to spread this easily disproven lie.
https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212632089-GOG-User-Agreement?product=gog
This is just the license to download the game installer, not to install it.
Once youāve downloaded the software they canāt revoke the license for that installer file.
Yes they can. They cannot stop you from installing the game, but once they revoke your license, it would be piracy.
GOG shills always twist reality to try to make it conform to the āyou own you gamesā lie, but the truth is GOG is no different than Steam.
How do you use a Steam game after its license was revoked?
By default Steam is a mere download manager without any DRM. You can zip the game folder and back it up anywhere. Whether or not publishers go through the additional steps to enable one or more DRM solution is a different matter. My favorite Steam games have no DRM at all.
Same as GOG: piracy.
Youāre purposely ignoring the obvious differences between GOG and steam to fit what you believe. Have fun with that
The differences are practical, not legal. He is right in the end
They canāt, actually, because they donāt hold the rights to that content, only to GOG and the installer. Once itās installed their distribution and license rights end.
If the game you install has its own license from the rights holder that gets revoked then youāll be in breach of that license, if anything.
How do you disprove that this āGOG contentā are offline installer files that, as long as you keep them backed up, work indefinitely even if GOG revokes your license to download them again?
I donāt. However, using those files after GOG revokes your license would be piracy.
the reality of the situation is that these 2 things look exactly the same in 99% of circumstance and 100% of circumstances that consumers actually care about
Thatās only if you download the game and store it in a way that wonāt degrade, when their servers are offline, you canāt download it anymoreā¦
This is such a red herring reason, and I donāt know why people hold onto this like it matters, at all.
Thatās true for pretty much every product you buy.
The difference is that Ikea isnāt going to take your shelf when they feel like it or if they run out of money. Neither is GOG. Thatās why it matters.
I didnāt know IKEA made video games?
And why does that matter? When they go out of business you canāt download even if you do or donāt have a license.
Because you now have a game that you donāt need a license that you still wonāt be able to access or play? So how does that make a single fucking difference lmfao.
Itās like youāve never heard of archival or how to keep data safe, protected, or backed up.
Also intentionally missing the valid point when compared to physical items just shoots yourself in the foot for any further arguments.
They donāt, they make furniture. You clearly donāt understand metaphors.
If Ikea goes out of business, you canāt buy their products anymore and the ones you do have you need to protect and make sure they donāt degrade. Your argument is true for every single product, digital or physical.
The games from GOG donāt have any DRM so you can very easily make copies of the game and safely store them elsewhere, even on new computers.
Games that do have DRM lock you down to verify that youāre allowed to play their game, which severely limits how you can use your own product. If that game publisher or developer goes out if business than you canāt play the game that you already have, even if itās kept āpristineā.
People who bought The Sims 4 couldnāt play their offline game because the DRM stopped them, meanwhile people didnāt buy the game were free to play it when they wanted. The legitimate buyers of the game were punished simply because of DRM.
I have no idea what else you would be expecting?
Thatās my pointā¦ it literally doesnāt matter that they can revoke you license or not, when the servers are down, youāre fucked regardless.
Hence why itās a pointless argument to bring upā¦
What else do you think I meant here?
But you donāt need to download it again. Keep good backup practices and itās eternal. If you lose it, thatās the same as losing a physical object you bought at a store. Or if you donāt maintain your backup like you would clean and maintain a physical object you bought, itās your fault you lose it. I can buy a game from GOG right now and keep it and use it until the day I die, then my grandchildren can use it after that.
You obviously donāt even know how it works.
As long as you keep the files you donāt have to access their servers to play it again. Thatās exactly the same as even physical media. Itās not like a company will send you a new DVD for free if you throw out the one you bought.
Ummmā¦ Thatās the case for disc games too of only being able to retain possession once itās shipped to you and you properly store it. Or any tangible good for that matter. I donāt what point you are trying to make.
Thatās literally the point, itās a useless argument since it doesnāt fucking matter lmfao.
That GOG downloaded installers canāt be forcibly deactivated or taken away? Your phrasing is confusing so I donāt think people are able to tell whether you think GOG installers are a good or bad thing, or acting like it is useless and provides no further benefit than DRM alternatives.
How can the installers access a file that no longer exists since the servers are shut down and the files can no longer be accessedā¦?
My phrasing is confusing since the point literally is fucking pointless, itās moot, doesnāt matter since it canāt be accessed licensed or not.
The offline installers literally are the files to install the game.
Itās as close as we can get in this day to having the disc and installing from disc long after the publisher was bought out and absorbed so many times nobody truly knows exactly who owns the rights to the game anymore. As long as your disc (in this case, offline installer) was stored safely and is still readable you can install it on a compatible computer (and thatās often the harder part is finding a compatible computer!)
I covered this in my original comment, thanks though I guess.
You are just ignoring that the installers can be downloaded and saved. Or even just the game directory can continue to work.
For people who value that it is a difference. Even how the game works is different with how some donāt work offline or lose ability to function offline once verification expires compared to non DRM counterparts.
You are an idiot acting as if DRM and DRM free is the same as though some license terms is the only determining factor.
Dude, no I am not, my very first comment in this chain talked about the needing to download and store it in a non-degrading wayā¦. Fucking hell dude lmfao.
What point are you trying to make here then if I already covered this at the very start?
Iāve read through your various comments, and Iām not sure you see the difference here.
With other platforms such as Steam, you download the Steam program that acts as a single installer for every game on the platform. You have to be logged into a valid Steam account to download a game from their single installer. If you use a new computer, you have to log into Steam and download from Steam. On GoG, you download an installer per game. Those installers can be transferred to any device and download the games even if the computer has never logged into GoG or even connected to the internet. You can store all the installers on an external drive, which you canāt do for Steam.
If Steam eventually dies or your account is banned, you can never install those games again. If GoG eventually dies or your account is banned, you are correct that you canāt download new installers, but you can use any installer you have already downloaded.
If Steam dies or your account is banned, the game you already have downloaded may not even work anymore due to DRM (this is on a game-by-game basis). If GoG dies or your account is banned, your games are guaranteed to still run since they are not dependant on GoG DRM (with a small list of exceptions people arenāt happy about).
You may not care about any of this, but thereās a decent chunk of people who want to keep their games regardless of anything the purchasing company does.