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GOG Does Away With Regional Price Plan, Apologizes
GOG.com has gotten rid of its regional price plan, the controversial plan that set a fixed worldwide price to every game. The website issued a statement of apology from its bosses Marcin Iwinski and Guillaume Rambourg.
In the statement, they expressed a mea culpa, saying “We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn't listen and we let you down. We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that, and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let's talk about how we will fix it."
They then list four points about their stance on DRM and pricing, emphasizing they are “DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.”
GOG also stated that they will fight hard for worldwide pricing, but if there is a difference of price for a game between regions, “we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially.” They also will let buyers choose between paying in their local currency or the monetary equivalent in USD.
Finally, they said that they want to listen to their audience and suggested any questions that users had could be asked at their GDC panel today on Monday March 17th. They summed up their position and attitude nicely with a final line saying “We will work hard not to disappoint you again.”
via: Eurogamer
Our Take
Those in charge at GOG are emphasizing that they made an error of judgment and are smart to listen to their customers. Unlike many companies, they listened to the cries of their user base and adapted their policy. They gave the people what they wanted, which is rarely a bad thing.
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