[Harald B]

Dear lord. They can't quit now, I've just discovered them and dropped over $50!
Does anyone know why they have to quit all of a sudden? Was there not enough money in it? Their site looked professional and well-off enough..

[MrMike]

You were fun while you lasted....

www.gog.com

(I posted this in the adventure section, but then I remembered how MANY other genres of games they had)

Their site says to stay tuned for how to download the games you purchased over the next week.

I think that this will scare many people into ever trying downloadable game services. I will continue to use Steam myself, but there is always the risk. One thing that I hate about the GOG news is that they announced it so suddenly, without any hints to users that they might be doing poorly financially.

[MrMike]

They should allow you to download the games you purchased this upcoming week, according to their current home page.

They were a professional site, but it looks like they weren't telling people about how poorly they were doing. Suddenly, we are hit with this, and *wham* everyone will get angry and start to panic. I don't honestly think that they will ever be able to use the GOG name again because people will remember them with a negative connotation.

I guess as long as they allow people to back-up their games, then they might be able to retain some thread of dignity.

[Jadefalcon]

I'll be keeping an eye out as I'd bought the Tex Murphy package and I still had Pandora directive and Overseer to download. It's a shame, as I was hoping to see the EA Sherlock Holmes games there some day.

Perhaps, just perhaps we shall see something else, but its a damned shame as the whole idea of GOG was a good one.

[inm8#2]

Sad news

[Roper Klacks]

Oh man, awful news, GOG was a great service. I guess old games are such a niche that is hard to keep it alive. Perhaps now Gabriel Knight games can go to Steam, i think they had an exclusivity contract with GOG.

[Jadefalcon]

Plus, I kept meaning to get Gabriel Knight...now I guess its not to be. My own fault there. GOG was really becoming a good place for adventures, games like Sanitarium and the Quest series as well as Tex Murphy. I had hoped to see Black Dahlia on there soon, but its really unfortunate. I wonder if they had perhaps been either too generous with their offers or tried to get too much too soon as their pace of new titles was becoming more frequent.

[dekaneas297]

That's awful

[Collector]

Originally Posted by MrMike

I think that this will scare many people into ever trying downloadable game services. I will continue to use Steam myself, but there is always the risk.

Since there was no activation or other copy protection schemes this is no different than a store or publisher going under. You can still reinstall and play the games that you bought from GOG at any time in the future. If anyone was foolish enough to have not saved the download as a backup, they only have themselves to blame.

It is a warning about any that use a method of copy protection that either requires online activation or to connect with a server to work like Steam has. I really dislike any such scheme that means that I cannot install or play a game if the company goes under. I understand a business' desire to limit piracy, but it should never come at the expense of the legitimate customers.

[DustyShinigami]

Oh, man... this is awful news!

With all those games they had for sale, at such low prices, and the fan/user base they had... I really thought they were doing well. I check the site religiously every day to see if any 'new' classics have been released in their catalogue. They helped get some hard to find titles, made them readily available, and set them up so there'd be no manual configuring involved. It was the only place where you could get the Gabriel Knight trilogy and the Tex Murphy series - amongst others - from, wasn't it? I already have the games, sure, but it's great to know there was a site that made them so readily available.

Such a shame.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by MrMike

One thing that I hate about the GOG news is that they announced it so suddenly, without any hints to users that they might be doing poorly financially.

Its a bit of a shock, that's for sure. Given that it was working fine a few hours ago and their latest release was the first in a series of three with the announcement the other 2 where soon to be added. I wonder how long the download amnesty will last, not sure I have every game I bought there downloaded.

I don't really see this as a warning against adopting digital downloads in general, Gog was an attempt to target a very niche market.

I would have thought a going out of business sale, even without any reduced prices would have stirred some extra shoppers. Weird way to end it.

[diego]

The spokesman of GOG said:

"As the message on the site says, this doesn't mean GOG is gone. We'll have more to share in the coming days."

[kuze]

Chris Remo just linked to a forum post stating that GoG is simply getting out of beta, and all of the fuss is just a marketing stunt.

[Jadefalcon]

If it is a marketing stunt, I would agree that it is a damned silly one.

[jbunniii]

That sucks, they had JUST released Age of Wonders and I stupidly thought, well, no hurry, I'll get it soon.

Fortunately over the past two years I've bought over 50 games from GOG, many of them during their generous sales, and I archived multiple copies of the installers. Still, had I known they were going to shut down, I would have bought at least 25 more before they went away :-(

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by kuze

Chris Remo just linked to a forum post stating that GoG is simply getting out of beta, and all of the fuss is just a marketing stunt.

If this were a stunt, it is by far the stupidest idea ever, because they would be risking customer loyalty. They could have made a far more explicit statement on the homepage like "our service has ended as of now" but instead they left it needlessly vague. If they were to suddenly announce GOG 2.0, I still think that the customer base would wonder if the company can be trusted because they are acting deceptive and vague.

[Aubstopper]

i'm pretty sure it's not ::gone::...a game programmer guy i know says that the rumor on the street is that they're just changing their look/format to something akin to steam. Their statement is very carefully worded...nothing really insinuates that they're not going to be around anymore...and everything suggests a revamp.

[imisssunwell]

Weren't they in beta anyhow? maybe their service is down to move from beta to their first "complete" launch of their service and thought of this silly way to generate publicity for their launch event.

[Monolith]

If this is indeed true, I would be shocked. There business strategy is extremely flawed. It is way too easy to pirate the games. There wouldn't be enough revenue from sales, especially since GOG has to pay the original developers to even sell it.

[Fien]

I'm shocked. They shut down the site just like that while people were downloading games? You don't toy with your loyal customers like that *for whatever reason*. Financial difficulties or other business problems don't develop overnight. And if they are reinventing themselves or something, as many people seem to believe, that GOG statement is the worst publicity stunt ever. I loved their site, their concept, their service and I have bought a dozen of their games, but I will not support a new GOG incarnation.