GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder • Hacker News Board

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#21

Post by nicolaslem » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:34 PM UTC

brachkow wrote: post #9

It is great because game preservation isn't what game industry shareholders usually interested. CD Project makes great games, but gaming industry is all-or-nothing. They already had colossal flop at their previous release. If another flop happens shutting down GOG is clearly would be on a table as a cost cutting measure.

I don't think it's fair to call Cyberpunk 2077 a colossal flop. It had an awful release, but the company stood behind it and fixed everything that needed fixing. Five years later it is now an acclaimed game that sold 35 million copies.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#22

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:35 PM UTC

cherryteastain wrote: post #4

Please release a Linux client or, even better, officially support and invest in developing Heroic Games Launcher so we can play our DRM free GOG games on a libre OS.

[deleted]

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#23

Post by Fiveplus » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:40 PM UTC

> Can I still download offline installers? Yes.

This is the only line I was looking for. I stopped buying on Steam sometime ago because I realized I was just renting licenses. GOG is the only major storefront where I feel like I actually own the product. As long as offline installers remain a core tenet, I don't care who owns the company. That said, it helps that it's someone returning to their roots rather than a private equity firm looking to strip-mine the assets.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#24

Post by SecretDreams » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:41 PM UTC

roxolotl wrote: post #12

I always search GOG before Steam. It’s slightly less user friendly in the most minor ways and sometimes a bit more expensive. But getting DRM free games is worth every penny and extra few moments. Steam is really great for what it is but you’re not buying games you’re leasing them. Excited to hear GOG might get more focus and investment.

> you’re leasing them

For the duration of your life, to be fair.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#25

Post by paxys » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:41 PM UTC

nicolaslem wrote: post #21

brachkow wrote: post #9

It is great because game preservation isn't what game industry shareholders usually interested. CD Project makes great games, but gaming industry is all-or-nothing. They already had colossal flop at their previous release. If another flop happens shutting down GOG is clearly would be on a table as a cost cutting measure.

I don't think it's fair to call Cyberpunk 2077 a colossal flop. It had an awful release, but the company stood behind it and fixed everything that needed fixing. Five years later it is now an acclaimed game that sold 35 million copies.

Yup, Cyberpunk 2077 has sold more copies in the same time frame than Witcher 3, which is routinely highlighted as one of the best and most successful games of all time.

You have to give kudos to CD PROJEKT for not just abandoning the game after a bad launch (which is what every other major studio would have done in its place) but patiently fixing problems and constantly adding content over 5 years to get to the state it is in today. And the game has no online requirement, no multiplayer, no microtransactions. Just one paid expansion which added a ton of new content. Rare to see this behavior in the industry today.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#26

Post by aeyes » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:41 PM UTC

brachkow wrote: post #9

It is great because game preservation isn't what game industry shareholders usually interested. CD Project makes great games, but gaming industry is all-or-nothing. They already had colossal flop at their previous release. If another flop happens shutting down GOG is clearly would be on a table as a cost cutting measure.

What game was a colossal flop? Cyberpunk was released too early but they kept on delivering patches and then the players game. It's their highest earning title.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#27

Post by add-sub-mul-div » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:42 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #15

It seems these days every video game publisher wants its own storefront and game launcher. Weird that CD PROJEKT is instead giving up a very popular one.

I wish you could always go straight to the publisher, I don't want an extra middleman in the transaction. GOG is fine because after the transaction you can download the install media and they're out of the mix, but the Steam/Epic model is terrible, it needlessly turns an open platform into a closed one.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#28

Post by Ekaros » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:43 PM UTC

eterm wrote: post #19

embedding-shape wrote: post #11

From the FAQ: > Is GOG financially unstable? No. GOG is stable and has had a really encouraging year. In fact, we’ve seen more enthusiasm from gamers towards our mission than ever before. I'm really happy to hear this, as I always feared their hard stance on no-DRM would scare off publishers and developers, but seems that fear might have been overstated. This year I personally also started buying more games on GOG th…

I had the opposite takeaway. Companies with strong financial performance don't tend to use words like "encouraging". That is the language you get from companies that are in trouble and hoping for recovery. Talking about people's enthusiasm for their mission is just straight up dodging the question itself.

If I read their income statement from Q3 correctly it is comparatively not doing great.

01.01.2025 to 30.09.2025 net profit 910 thousand PLN I think.

01.01.2024 to 30.09.2024 net profit 32 thousand PLN.

With "from 1 January to 30 September 2025: 4.2365 PLN/EUR and from 1 January to 30 September 2024:4.3022 PLN/EUR."

It is not that much. So splitting it off probably make sense for the CD Projekt.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#29

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:43 PM UTC

SecretDreams wrote: post #24

roxolotl wrote: post #12

I always search GOG before Steam. It’s slightly less user friendly in the most minor ways and sometimes a bit more expensive. But getting DRM free games is worth every penny and extra few moments. Steam is really great for what it is but you’re not buying games you’re leasing them. Excited to hear GOG might get more focus and investment.

> you’re leasing them For the duration of your life, to be fair.

For the duration of the businesses’ life.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#30

Post by Thegn » Mon, Dec 29, 2025, 5:43 PM UTC

SecretDreams wrote: post #24

roxolotl wrote: post #12

I always search GOG before Steam. It’s slightly less user friendly in the most minor ways and sometimes a bit more expensive. But getting DRM free games is worth every penny and extra few moments. Steam is really great for what it is but you’re not buying games you’re leasing them. Excited to hear GOG might get more focus and investment.

> you’re leasing them For the duration of your life, to be fair.

For the duration of gaben’s life, to be fair. Beyond that there be dragons.