GOG.com’s managing director Guillaume Rambourg recently talked in detail about the nature of DRM and how it affects game sales. Guillaume contends consumer hostility towards DRM is at an all-time high.
What GOG.com found to be true starting out in their native Poland, as well as elsewhere in the world, is that pirates are willing to buy games if games are packaged with sufficient value. They started out selling older games in Poland, but choosing some of the best and most popular games, and bundling them with many extras, including manuals and posters. Ultimately, GOG.com’s core values are based on trusting and respecting their customers.
Guillaume explains that GOG.com does not conduct actual studies about consumer attitudes towards DRM. However, they have been monitoring and finding more evidence that consumers are pushing back towards DRM. They cite studies from the music and book publishing industries that show many companies made more money letting go of DRM completely.
Guillaume also discusses their direct experience releasing Witcher 2. While GOG.com hosted a DRM-free version of the game, the cracked, pirated version of the game was based on the version that had DRM. They found the pirated version was downloaded 4.5 million times, but they don’t see this as lost sales. Rather, only a fraction of these pirates intended to buy the game after trying it out. They were better off pursuing better relations with willing buyers.
GOG.com also cites their 30-day guarantee, something they can leverage over their biggest competitor (Steam) and their success in signing over big AAAs to distribute their older games. They see more opportunities increasing their business with indies , but worry about the precedent created by flash game sales.
Finally, Guillaume promises their site is going through some big changes this year, with two major projects underway. We look forward to finding out what GOG.com has in the works for 2014.
Image is from the Witcher 2.
