GOG formally announce their GOG Patrons subscription donation system

they certainly present it as directly funding the preservation efforts, rather than the store as a whole.

i can't really imagine this is a meaningful source of funding for the store, rather i'd guess it's a way to get people more invested in preservation and therefore build up the profile of the programme. "look, big publisher. x many people want freelancer to be available for purchase, and they're willing to put money behind it."

i might be completely full of shit though :)

To me, this only continues to show that GOG really isn't doing very well when it comes to revenue.

Well, the FAQ specifically says:

Why introduce a membership now? Is GOG in financial trouble?

No. Our mission of making games live forever has never been as visible as it is today. We're doing well, and this year has been especially encouraging.

The GOG Preservation Program keeps growing, the GOG Dreamlist has become a rallying point for unreleased classics, GOG One-click Mods are expanding. We've brought back some truly iconic titles, and more are on the way. More people are joining GOG than ever. In every way, GOG is thriving. The momentum is real.

GOG Patrons isn't a lifeline. It's a way to go further, faster. Preservation takes time, resources, and people. And while we've always found a way, we know we can do even more: with your support.

so think of that what you will :)

Donate? To a store??

Quoting: CerberonDonate? To a store??

Putting this type of work under a dedicated 'game preservation foundation' would've at least looked better, I guess.

The question is how can we keep the almost monopoly of Steam in check and balance it out?
I buy my games only on Steam if there is no other option.

GOG definitely has its benefits, when DMC HD collection hit gog I bought it straight away, I didn't like how capcom retroactively fitted drm into some of their old games on steam

I used them as my main store front for around 2 years but find myself coming back to steam, some games end up not getting updates on GOG

Also overall steam is better when it comes to linux, including better support for native linux games

I'll still always love GOG just for offline installers, and I think double dipping when games are dirt cheap is worth it

I can buy Thief from gog right now for £1.58 and even though I already have it on steam, it's nice to have that offline installer and backed up for a "just in case" scenario, especially when it comes to games you might particularly cherish

Last edited by Doktor-Mandrake on 15 Dec 2025 at 9:39 pm UTC

Imagine being a "superfan" of a company...

Quoting: walther von stolzing

Quoting: CerberonDonate? To a store??

Putting this type of work under a dedicated 'game preservation foundation' would've at least looked better, I guess.

They're in the business of selling games, but it so happens that because of their early focus (from before the KFC-like rebrand) a good chunk of their catalogue is old, i.e. the preservation part needs to happen if they want to keep selling functional product. That's not even a knock against them, that's just business.

A GOG game preservation foundation would certainly be walking the walk. I'm not holding my breath, they're in no condition (basically breaking even, probably cutting costs to keep it this way) or position (they're public) to make that happen.

Being a patron would normally imply getting the funded goods in exchange for funding, wouldn't it?

I find the terminology around this program quite misleading, even repulsive in a world where we get thrown to death with the "companies are not charities" phrase.

G O G

I may have did this if they bloody made GOG Galaxy 2 for LINUX with support for Linux and Windows runtimes and proton detection and usage! INC updating and save clouds obviously.

BUT..... nope... (I know its not required and heroic does a decent job, but its not ideal)

Might have considered it in the beginning but nowadays so many of their games have DRM preventing offline LAN gaming, so its really only the better option for single player games. For any LAN games, they have basically as much DRM as steam.

Quoting: torhamMight have considered it in the beginning but nowadays so many of their games have DRM preventing offline LAN gaming, so its really only the better option for single player games. For any LAN games, they have basically as much DRM as steam.

Yeah this is why they need to release the GOG-Galaxy2 for Linux,

I buy games only on GOG lately. I wish it was bigger. Catch 22 creates a problem that their Linux users focus is very minimal, since Linux users are only a small part of their total user base that's already quite smaller than Steam's. That doesn't give them a lot of incentives to back efforts like Galaxy for Linux, which is easy to understand.

The other side of it are developers like Hellish Quart's, who pull their games from GOG, saying that all their users are on Steam. It's very annoying for actual GOG users.

Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Dec 2025 at 5:49 am UTC

GOG: Grifter of Gaming. This reminds me of the EC3 Arcade guy over in CT here in the States asking for donations to get arcade boards for his arcade. Just grifts disguised as "fandom" or "community."

GOG is just another evil corporation in yet another shithole country. Just like Valve. They don't deserve loyalty and are wolves in sheep's clothing. You buy from them to get what you need and that should be it.

They don't have to release galaxy for Linux at all to be viable for Linux gaming. There is already plenty of tools handling that.🥰

Quoting: Linux_RocksGOG: Grifter of Gaming. This reminds me of the EC3 Arcade guy over in CT here in the States asking for donations to get arcade boards for his arcade. Just grifts disguised as "fandom" or "community."

GOG is just another evil corporation in yet another shithole country. Just like Valve. They don't deserve loyalty and are wolves in sheep's clothing. You buy from them to get what you need and that should be it.

Poland is a shithole country? And "just like Valve" which therefore is also sitting in a shithole country?
Evil. Wolves. Grifters. Jeez, quite the drama queen you are...

I don't see what's so controversial with this? GOG's Game Preservation program is not a money maker (who could have guessed) and they are asking for donations to keep it strong. That doesn't mean GOG's going out of business. They can close down Game Preservation tomorrow, go back to being a regular DRM-free game store and be just fine.

Now would it be better if a foundation did the game preservation? Maybe but GOG have the distribution and the knowledge to actually make the games run. They are more than just an archive were you can download an .EXE file.

Older games are being lost to time. Now is not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Linux and its open source tools are great in running old games on modern hardware.

And a company selling DRM free software should also support DRM free operating systems.

That said: more Linux support and you get more of my money. Diconnect the preservation programm from the store business und i even would happily donate for it.

Yeah, as people say, it should be some "GOG Foundation", even if the only thing it would do, is looking more legit for people. I don't understand how it works. If you want to preserve a game on GOG, buy that specific game, and GOG should use their share cut to shove an old game into a dosbox or whatever compatibility layer it runs under, and patch for widescreen resolution. If modders can do it for free, GOG can pull it off, using their store revenue, right? It is not like they do a full modern port or a remaster of every game they preserve.

Last edited by vic-bay on 16 Dec 2025 at 10:08 am UTC

Quoting: tpauThe question is how can we keep the almost monopoly of Steam in check and balance it out?
I buy my games only on Steam if there is no other option.

The answer is simple: provide competitive good enough services and shopping experience that are on par at least with Steam.

If any other game shop does not want to provide that or cannot do that, they won't get better market shares.

For example, Epic is still burning Fortnite money and any of their underhanded tactics did not work out, instead of treating customers better.

Steam does exactly that, that is providing in comparison to other stores the best services.