GOG acquired by co-founder, reiterates philosophy of ‘freedom, independence, and genuine control’ — CD Projekt sells platform to focus on creating games
GOG has announced that Michał Kiciński, one of the founders of CD Projekt and the GOG gaming platform, acquired it completely from the video game developer. The maker of the Witcher franchise and Cyberpunk 2077 said in an announcement on its website that it’s letting go of the platform to focus on upcoming projects, especially as it has plans to expand its franchises.
Even though CD Projekt will no longer have ownership of the distribution platform, GOG says that it will stay true to its mission of giving players ownership over the games they purchase, especially as Kiciński helped come up with the idea behind it in 2008. “From the very beginning, GOG has always been built on strong values and clear principles,” Michał Kiciński said. “When Marcin Iwiński and I came up with the ideas for GOG, the vision was simple: bring classic games back to players and ensure that once you buy a game, it truly belongs to you — forever.”
This commitment means that players who purchase their games on the platform don’t have to worry about the titles they’ve already bought from going away. “DRM-free is more central to GOG than ever,” the company said in its blog. “Your library stays yours to enjoy: same access, same offline installers, same sense of ownership. Your data stays with GOG, and GOG Galaxy remains optional.”
Changes like these can often be worrying for gamers and the industry at large — after all, consolidation in the gaming industry has left it with only a few big players like Sony, Tencent, Microsoft (especially after it acquired Activision-Blizzard-King), Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and Take-Two. Aside from that, many of them are increasingly turning towards the subscription model, turning games from something you can purchase once and keep forever into a service where titles could disappear with little warning.
Nevertheless, CD Projekt, assures everyone that GOG is in good hands. “For a long time now, GOG has been operating independently. Now it’s going into very good hands — we are convinced that with the support of Michał Kiciński, one of GOG’s co-founders, its future will be full of great projects and successes.” And even though GOG is no longer under the direct control of the developer, its current and future titles will still be available to purchase on the platform. The current rumor is that a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is in the works, and will allegedly drop in 2030, but we all remember how long the original took to arrive.
Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
