Co-Founder Of Firm Behind Cyberpunk, Witcher Acquires Digital Game Storefront GOG

Michał Kiciński, the co-founder of Polish video game developing company CD Projekt Red, purchased the digital video game storefront GOG as well as its online gaming platform GOG Galaxy from the firm, according to a statement on the GOG website.

'GOG' which stands for 'Good Old Games' is a popular option among experienced gamers for purchasing video games due to their emphasis on consumer-friendly practices.

Kiciński purchased the storefront from the developer of critically acclaimed best-selling video games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 for $25.2 million.

CD Proket Red is a public company that formerly owned GOG, of which the co-founder has a 10% stake.

GOG.com is noted for selling video games that are 'DRM-free', this means that the games are not impeded by digital rights management software.

DRM is used by companies to prevent users from copying, sharing or modifying their games but in practice, it has often made it more inconvenient to access games.

Requirements that come with DRM such as always being online, needing to check in with a game launcher can often take up a player's time and can restrict access for a game that they paid to play.

Moreover, when a company's policy changes or it shuts down its servers, the game may stop functioning and players may permanently lose access to it, especially when it has DRM.

GOG's mission statement has been to preserve games by providing them without DRM and offer them at reasonable discounts for gamers.

"The vision was simple: bring classic games back to players, and make sure that once you buy a game, it truly belongs to you, forever. In a market increasingly defined by mandatory clients and closed ecosystems, that philosophy feels more relevant than ever," the website said.

GOG stated that with the acquisition, DRM-Free will be "more central than ever."