14 DAY TRIAL // Good Old Games, the gaming distribution service from CD Projekt that specializes in vintage games, will now be known only as GOG and will include indie titles as well as older AAA mainstream releases.
The line-up of video games will include: Trine 2, The Whispered World, Darwinia, Spacechem and Machinarium.
The higher-profile AAA games will only be brought to the new GOG one to three years after the initial launch date.
Marcin Iwinski, one of the co-founders of CD Projekt and one of the executives behind GOG, stated, “There are hundreds of great games released every year from publishers of every imaginable size. When you have a huge catalog filled with classics, it’s very hard to sell an older game without putting in on steep discount.”
He says that after a time gamers can better appreciate the quality of an older release and GOG is able to launch the game with extra content and more care towards its presentation and updates.
Iwinski also took a swipe at Steam and Valve, saying that he believes that the current culture of constant price cuts is not good for the long-term health of the digital distribution market.
He added, “Running so many discounts decreases the perceived value of our entire entertainment media. When you can buy a bundle of fantastic indie games for $1, it’s that much harder to convince someone to shell out $10 to try one indie game.”
GOG will also continue to promote the same pricing all over the world, saying that regional pricing is one of the demands of video game publishers that needs to be dropped in order to accommodate a truly global market.
The digital distribution market on the PC is currently dominated by Steam, the service from Valve, but GOG, Origin from Electronic Arts and GameStop are trying to gain market share via aggressive promotions and exclusive games releases.