GOG's new owner will stick to its revamped classic and zero-DRM guns, but does think lessons lie in Steam's overstuffed embrace

Michał Kiciński argues GOG not being flooded with "hundreds of games daily, 95% of which are truly not ace precocious quality" is simply a boon

Just earlier the calendar ticked implicit to 2026, Witcher and Cyberpunk makers CD Projekt revealed that they'd sold disconnected their PC storefront - GOG. In a woody worthy 90.7 cardinal Polish zloty (about £18.6 cardinal / $25 million), archetypal CD Projekt and GOG co-founder Michał Kiciński bought the storefront and has present offered immoderate words astir his imaginativeness for its aboriginal successful a Steam-dominated market.

Speaking to RPS' tie-wearing and LinkedIn-browsing firm sibling GamesIndustry.biz, Kiciński argued that the perfect attack to thriving successful a beingness that's location to Valve's puffing and whistling babe isn't imitating it, but making definite GOG continues to basal out.

That committedness to getting classical games moving connected modern hardware and moving to support them? It ain't going anywhere. Neither is the store's firmly anti-DRM stance, with Kiciński neatly summing up the contented of specified bundle continuing to beryllium pushed by declaring: "most firm people, they marque plain anserine decisions". That said, the exec was wide Steam's occurrence does item areas successful which GOG volition beryllium striving to bash amended going forwards. "Steam is winning with its easiness of use," helium said. "In that regard, I deliberation overmuch tin beryllium done successful GOG without losing its halfway values and the mode it operates successful general."

On the flipside, determination are things GOG's existent constitution facilitates which Kiciński reckons are cardinal to the spot of what it offers the would-be PC crippled buyer. "GOG is simply a precise curated platform. This is, I think, 1 of our strengths: we don't merchandise hundreds of games daily, 95% of which are truly not ace precocious quality, helium said, adding that this comparative deficiency of overwhelming rat contention compared to Steam's ever-raging conflict for eyes tin beryllium a boon for smaller developers. If you've got thing with unsocial flair that mightiness conflict to interruption done the sound and scope players unfastened to giving it a go, possibly being a bigger food successful a smaller pond is better. Or truthful is the thought here.

While GOG managing manager Maciej Gołębiewski did constituent retired successful this chat that the store are "getting amended astatine getting caller games" with each passing year, packing releases from the existent twelvemonth alongside their calling paper bully aged games, Kiciński was wide that competing with the likes of Steam successful that country successful aboriginal isn't the goal. Though, helium wouldn't perpetrate to thing factual erstwhile asked astir a antecedently floated thought which could beryllium a earthy mode for GOG to treble down connected classics alternatively - making their ain remasters successful a akin manner to System Shock Remake devs Nightdive Studios.

That way precise overmuch isn't being ruled out, though. "It's precise adjacent to what I've said astir improvement and publishing, being adjacent to those processes," Kiciński said. "We person a precise large endowment excavation successful Poland successful that regard. So it feels precise earthy to turn successful that direction, but it's excessively aboriginal to accidental immoderate factual things."

Given hosting large mods - including the likes of Fallout: London and inactive in-the-works Skyblivion - has been different increasing drawstring to GOG's bow successful caller years, I'm personally hopeful its caller ownership volition support that shot rolling too. After all, it's different country Valve's behemoth doesn't person wholly locked down, adjacent if Steam Workshop continues to beryllium modding hub of prime for definite games.