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GOG reportedly suffering from staff turnover and poor management: “Current business model is likely running out of steam” (gameworldobserver.com)

submitted 1 day ago by lazycouchpotato@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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[-] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 20 points 20 hours ago

GOG is the only big option if you want to own the games you purchase.

[+] woelkchen@lemmy.world -15 points 19 hours ago

That's not how copyright laws work anywhere. You don't own anything, it's just a license.

[-] lepinkainen@lemmy.world 18 points 19 hours ago

GoG Vault would disagree with you on that.

You can download the full installers and keep them, nobody can take them away or disable it remotely

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 9 hours ago

What they mean is that technically you still are being granted a license to use it. The same was true for things like DVD movies. They're technically correct, but missing the point.

[-] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 2 points 14 hours ago

In case of Steam.

With GOG I get an actual license key & terms that state my ownership.

[-] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

No you don't. You get the same license as you do on Steam, here's the license btw https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/16034990432541-GOG-User-Agreement-effective-from-17-February-2024?product=gog :

We give you and other GOG users the personal right (known legally as a 'license') 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.

Which is very similar to Steam. In both cases you can keep the files you've downloaded on your machine, and on most cases you can copy those files to a different machine and keep playing it. GOG has better marketing on this regard, but they're both very similar, neither enforces DRM nor forbids it entirely, although GOG does tend to be a bit stricter (but they still allow it) whereas steam is a bit looser but knowingly implemented a weak DRM and let's you know in the game page if the game has any stronger form of DRM.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world -4 points 13 hours ago

With GOG I get an actual license key & terms that state my ownership.

No, the intellectual property is not transferred to you. You have no clue how copyright works.

[-] Hawke@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

For most people that is a distinction without a difference.

[-] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Yes, but the same is also true for Steam, so it's a moot point.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

For most people that is a distinction without a difference.

So what's the difference to making a backup of my Steam folder? The games I play have no DRM either.

[-] Hawke@lemmy.world -2 points 8 hours ago

Nothing at all. Most people are not creating derivative works.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 3 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I totally understand your point, but when people talk about "you own nothing" they don't really mean you "own" the content on physical media, they mean it doesn't have DRM that requires an online service. You're technically correct, but your pedantry is making you miss the forest for the trees, basically.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world -3 points 9 hours ago

but your pedantry is making you miss the forest for the trees, basically.

No. People here claim, that just because GOG cannot remote wipe your drive, people buying off GOG have a perpetual right to the games they've bought. But they don't because that's not how copyright works. If a game's license is revoked, to keep playing the game is copyright violation.

Not only do so many people not grasp basic concepts of copyright, they claim Valve could take away all downloaded games. No, Valve cannot remote wipe my drive either. I can back up my Steam folder. Many games on Steam don't have DRM at all. It's opt-in and the actual Steam documentation outright says not to rely on Steam DRM because "it is easily removed by a motivated attacker." If games rely on crap like Denuvo, 3rd party launchers, or invasive anti-cheat, the publishers are required to clearly state so on the store page in one of those orange boxes. Users can make an informed decision on a per-game basis even with Steam. And those games that ship crap like Denuvo aren't on GOG in the first place.

So in the end GOG is a store that stretches the truth about game ownership in their marketing and despite all their Witcher and Cyberpunk money, they don't care about users of platforms competing against Windows at all.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 7 hours ago

People here claim, that just because GOG cannot remote wipe your drive, people buying off GOG have a perpetual right to the games they've bought.

I think it's pretty clear from context that they mean they have the ability to perpetually play the games because of the lack of DRM, not the right.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world -3 points 6 hours ago

I think it’s pretty clear from context that they mean they have the ability to perpetually play the games because of the lack of DRM, not the right.

Plenty claim it's their right and with much ferocity while as vehemently ignoring that there are plenty of games on GOG that offer reduced content when playing offline (an extensive list was posted by someone). Also, because games on Steam must disclose their use of DRM (and anti-cheat), people can just buy DRM-free games which can be backed up just as well. Goldberg is a drop-in library for games that use Steam APIs. So everything is fine there as well for people who actually make informed buying decisions.