Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

gog.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 574 posts

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

#61

Post by embedding-shape »

Semaphor wrote: post #56
embedding-shape wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But as soon as you go to sites selling steam keys (proper ones, not resellers), What is a company/individual if not a reseller if they're selling Steam keys? You cannot sell Steam keys without being Steam or the developer itself, and not be called a "reseller". Or what sites are you referring to here, stuff like Humble Bundle where you get Steam keys with the bundles?

Resellers sell something they bought. Or that's the idea. The sites are marketplaces, sometimes having people sell keys from different countries, sometimes stolen credit card keys. There are several game devs saying they'd prefer people pirating over using those sites. Real stores sell steam keys because they are selling directly from the developers. Steam is actually nice (or preempting monopoly talk, depending on y…

> Real stores sell steam keys because they are selling directly from the developers

And how did these "real stores" get those Steam keys unless they bought them, maybe even directly from the developers? Or are you saying game developers hand out these keys for free to the store, then the store sends the developer money for each key they sell? I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense.

What is an example of one such site selling Steam keys who you wouldn't consider a reseller?

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

#62

Post by paxys »

dangus wrote: post #49
paxys wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, for the duration of whenever Steam decides to say "fuck you".

Which is basically never. They have no incentive to do that except for extreme circumstances, and they have all the leverage in the world over game publishers. Delisted games tend to stay in your library for redownload. I never understood the cynicism for digital media, it’s been multiple decades now and the model clearly works. Obviously I prefer zero DRM but it’s also not a hard line requirement for me personally.

Ever bought anything from MSN Music? Yahoo Music? Desura? Microsoft eBook Store? Walmart MP3s? Anything using Adobe Content Server? MusicNet? CinemaNow? UltraViolet?

It is laughable to think that digital media "clearly works". Companies shut down and stores shutter all the time. In most cases there is no recourse for customers, because – surprise – you didn't actually own the rights to what you bought, just a revocable license. You have to be pretty young and/or naive to think that this can't eventually happen to Steam as well.

And even if you fully trust Steam to stick around and keep its word, digital licensing means you can still get screwed. For example - if the publisher's license to in-game music expires, the game will automatically be updated to remove all the tracks (e.g. GTA Vice City and San Andreas). For larger issues and conflicts the game might be removed entirely (e.g. Spec Ops: The Line). Or the publisher might decide to just switch off the DRM servers, even for single player games (e.g. The Crew). Outside of gaming there are countless examples of publishers "upgrading" music tracks you own to different versions or censoring/altering content of books you own.

The only recourse to all this is to buy and store DRM-free versions of your media.

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

#63

Post by mariusor »

paxys wrote: post #45
mariusor wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is the same as what can happen to GOG if you don't have the files backed up. And if you do happen to have them backed up, is there such a large difference between having the installer vs the full game installation stored?

Yes there is a difference. Steam sells you a license that can be revoked at any time. The games have DRM, and rely on cloud servers to authenticate you. If you turn your internet off they will all stop working after a certain period, even if fully downloaded. And if Steam or the DRM owner goes out of business you will end up with nothing. If you buy and download something from GOG, it is yours. You can still play it…

> The games have DRM, and rely on cloud servers to authenticate you.

That is not true as a global rule. Game developers can release fully independent versions of their games even on steam.

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

#64

Post by Gormo »

kgwxd wrote: post #39
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.

How is GOG functionally different from Steam? They're still just a middle man. For actual DRM-free software, both GOG and Steam are nothing more than a convenience layer. If they're anything more than that, the software simply isn't DRM-free.

Not sure what you're trying to say here. The distinction is pretty clear: GOG distributes standalone installers without any DRM, and Steam does not.

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

#65

Post by pitched »

fooqux wrote: post #47

I used to love gog. I purchased a bunch of stuff back when they were talking a big game around supporting Linux with their Galaxy client. But while gog was talking, Valve was actually doing . Building an actual Linux client. Making multiplayer actually work. Not to mention all the work they've done with Proton and upstreamimg graphics drivers. I hope gog succeeds. I just value Linux gaming support over not having DRM…

It doesn’t look like GOG can afford to pay for that work. I think we all got very lucky that the success of the Steam Deck has put the incentives in the right place for Steam to be able to invest in Linux.

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

#66

Post by skotobaza »

101008 wrote: post #54

First time I heard about GOG. Is like Steam but you download the .exe installer (or wahtever format it is) from the game you purchase? Like Kazaa/Ares but paid? I love it to be honest, and I think that's how it should be, but how do creators (and GOG) fight piracy? What's preventing me from buying, getting the offline installer and then sharing it later? If I am wrong and GOG is something completely different, then l…

> What's preventing me from buying, getting the offline installer and then sharing it later?

Nothing. People already do that. GOG does not fight against this, to my knowledge they believe that people will willingly pay for good games. It worked with Witcher 3 10 years ago as an example.

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

#67

Post by [deleted] »

fooqux wrote: post #47

I used to love gog. I purchased a bunch of stuff back when they were talking a big game around supporting Linux with their Galaxy client. But while gog was talking, Valve was actually doing . Building an actual Linux client. Making multiplayer actually work. Not to mention all the work they've done with Proton and upstreamimg graphics drivers. I hope gog succeeds. I just value Linux gaming support over not having DRM…

[deleted]

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

#68

Post by embedding-shape »

Ekaros wrote: post #28
eterm wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/investors/result-center/q3-2025... [has a bunch of files at the bottom too, for more data]

> Consolidated net earnings during the reporting period stood at 193 million PLN – 2.5 times more than during the corresponding period of the previous year, which results in a net profitability of 55%.

Maybe I don't understand "profits above all" sufficiently well as some of my peers, but that seems Good Enough to me.

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

#69

Post by Ekaros »

apetresc wrote: post #52
Ekaros wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm not sure I understand your figures. What is "32 thousand PLN", surely their entire annual profit for all of 2024 was not literally 32K PLN (approx. 9K USD)? Is this measured in millions? And whatever they're measured in, surely 32K to 910K in the span of a year is considered excellent progress?

No it was actually just circa 9 thousand Euros from GOG.COM. And it seems there was period of having potential loss of million PLN as well in Q3 of 2024 I think. So it looks quite variable based on which products release.

See: https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/wp-content/uploads-en/2025/11/c...

Starting from page 28.

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

#70

Post by TechSquidTV »

fooqux wrote: post #47

I used to love gog. I purchased a bunch of stuff back when they were talking a big game around supporting Linux with their Galaxy client. But while gog was talking, Valve was actually doing . Building an actual Linux client. Making multiplayer actually work. Not to mention all the work they've done with Proton and upstreamimg graphics drivers. I hope gog succeeds. I just value Linux gaming support over not having DRM…

The unfortunate or fortunate reality of network effects also means Steam is usually best suited to preserve content that might otherwise be lost. Both in terms of literally holding the data for longer than the general public (including workshop files), but also by keeping communities active and alive.
Post reply on HN