To many PC gamers, GOG.com (formerly known as Good Old Games) is a game distribution platform that serves as a major rival to other distributors like Steam and the Epic Games Store. For many years, GOG built a reputation for itself as a distributor of older games, with a particular interest in restoring titles that are hard to access and then making them available again. GOG sells plenty of new games, though, and it recently became embroiled in controversy by selling Hitman: Game of the Year Edition.
Alongside its interest in older games, GOG has a commitment to selling games without digital rights management (DRM). GOG users who bought Hitman: GOTY Edition found its online requirements made the game include DRM, so selling Hitman flew in the face of a chief principle that GOG is built on. What resulted is a valuable reminder for GOG that its users take its anti-DRM stance seriously, and those users aren't afraid to express their displeasure if it ever crops up on the service. Now, Hitman: GOTY Edition has an uncertain future on GOG.
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GOG and the Hitman Backlash
For those who aren't familiar with the concept of DRM, it is a system of tools that digital content distributors sometimes use to check if players have the proper license for their products. For example, Diablo 3 requires permanent Internet connection to play, which is a form of DRM that allows Blizzard to authenticate players' copies each time they play. GOG is against practices like these, believing players should own their games once they purchase them rather than needing to connect to the Internet or log into an account to play.
This is where issues arose with GOG selling Hitman: GOTY Edition. Although technically fans could play the Hitman title without accessing the Internet, major parts of the game are inaccessible without going online, from a variety of missions to a long list of collectible weapons and outfits. Hitman: GOTY Edition had a form of always-online DRM built in, even if it didn't completely lock players out, so GOG users quickly became upset that it was available through a service famously opposed to DRM. Users expressed their frustration by review bombing Hitman GOTY Edition on GOG.
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Luckily for these users, GOG was listening. It pulled Hitman: GOTY Edition from its storefront and issued an apology, stating Hitman never should have been made available with these Internet requirements intact. Additionally, GOG told fans that it's communicating with IO Interactive, Hitman's developer, potentially indicating plans to put a DRM-free version of Hitman: GOTY Edition on GOG. For now, the Hitman title is unavailable on this service, and it's impossible to say when it might return, if at all.
GOG's Commitment Serves It Well
GOG's Hitman slip-up is embarrassing for it, but the storefront has handled the controversy with grace. Once users expressed their distress, it responded in accordance with its principles, suggesting that this was an misstep rather than an intentional compromise. As long as it's vigilant and doesn't let something else like Hitman: GOTY Edition slip through the cracks, its image as an anti-DRM stronghold should remain intact. As for Hitman fans who prefer GOG as their distributor of choice, hopefully its conversation with IO Interactive goes somewhere. With any luck, there'll be a non-DRM version of Hitman: GOTY Edition on GOG before long, giving fans a version that they hoped for.
Hitman: Game of the Year Edition is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.