"We'll keep things the same and maybe fix some bugs, but not all of those bugs that we may end up fixing will be fixed at release. $30, please."

Let's wait and see. I'm guessing this will get panned just because of the pricing. It's high for what's essentially a patch to get the games to... function properly and without workarounds.

- Price similar to the Anniversary edition [External Link] or lower (looking at Anniversary edition, that is actually a definitive edition, so I'm not sure why we need another one)

That was just them making a big announcement and renaming the old game. They made it seem like there has been some development done (an account system and some extras was what they advertised, I think), but I never saw any of that actually... work. This kind of seems like it was supposed to be what they're releasing in August, but they failed implementing it back then? If Relic explained it I haven't seen it. Really bizarre.

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From what I know the guy that leads the project lives on a boat, so there might be a semi-decent basis to argue this is actually international waters rather than the US. You could also try to convince him to sail out a bit further just in case.

Sorry, couldn't help myself given that bit of trivia :)

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Private servers exist for MMOs for which no source code has been released to the public. What this tells me is that there absolutely is a way to do this in a reasonable fashion. And yes, it will require a degree of effort on the part of the publishers and developers - that's the point. Put some effort into not killing those games once you're done with them, please. Thank you.

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"Here, you do it."

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Final Fantasy 1. It's rough, it's broken, but it also has mystery and adventure to a degree that we haven't seen again until maybe Demon/Dark Souls? You really feel like you're exploring and learning about the world in FF1, you definitely feel like there's more to it than there actually is, and the game pulls off its freeroam approach remarkably well for the time. I never felt completely lost, the limited guidance it provided was just right, and the simple plot hit the sweet spot it needed to hit. I had motivation, but I wasn't drowning in stuff to do for arbitrary reasons (looking at your, Dragon Quest), and could instead enjoy discovering that this one bit of land is a fantastic, if also slightly deadly, spot to (over)grind. Lovely spritework.

These days, I'd probably want my classes to actually work, though, so I'd say romhacks are recommended for anyone who wants to dive in ;)

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Here's some recent numbers that perhaps help to put things in perspective:
https://www.cdprojekt.com/pl/wp-content/uploads-pl/2025/03/cd-projekt-group-presentation-fy-2024-2.pdf [External Link]

GOG isn't operating at a loss, technically, but I wouldn't exactly call this profit, either.

This definitely adds up to CDP separating their CDPR servers etc from GOG some time back (yeah, that happened), and all the other GOG stuff we've been seeing basically around the same time or after.

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Well, here's the other shoe dropping on that inane marketing: they're not making enough, and they can't increase their cut or pricing with Steam just over there selling most of the same games (even when acknowledging some of them are packaged in a more sloppy fashion vs GOG).

I mean... sure, if this approach works out for them. Time to start planning some backups, I guess.

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Yeah, it's really weird to frame the post as a passing of the torch when it really is a business deal. It's the owner's right to sell, sure, but what I don't get is the spin attempt. I get the need for it seeing who the new owner is, just not sure why it's the now-previous owner doing it.

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This explanation doesn't explain anything.

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Yeah, not a fan of those civ swaps. What I am a big fan of is playing Civ as "a" civ that is also my civ, and 7 seems to be designed to completely ignore that type of approach. From this point of view, what Firaxis turned Civ into is just a disjointed mess of stuff to click through for bonuses and according to your chosen meta.

Or: Gimme back my Civ2, and get off my lawn!

One more thought: back in the day you'd play games for the fun of it, and that would extend to people reviewing games in the media. They'd play their share, it'd maybe come across in the publication that everyone is crazy about playing X at the moment etc, but once they were done - that was it. Some sleep lost over a cool new thing, but all relatively healthy still. These days The Algorithm pretty much dictates that THE way to run your YouTube channel is to laser-focus on a single game, make that your brand and very identity, build your life around it. And your income is on the line if you do that and rock the boat in any way. I'll skip the payola and how unhealthy these influencer-publisher relationships are, but I will say that if I spent half a decade playing Civ full time or near full time I'd be happy for any shake-up as well, the more radical the better, in fact, and I wouldn't care what it turns Civ into, or what constitutes the core of the identity of the game that is Civ. Does it have civs? Then whatever. After all, I'm looking at a decade of my life, right? The one and only thing that is a real objective problem in this context is... the interface. Which may sound familiar.

My take on the reception of Civ7.

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