CD Projekt RED's digital storefront GOG Galaxy is losing money and the company is now refocusing its efforts on offering a "handpicked selection of games," with the store's "DRM-free philosophy."
Good Old Games (GOG) began in 2008 with a focus on classic PC titles that were no longer being offered on modern storefronts. It eventually expanded as a hub for PC games with a unique selling point of offering them without any form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) software.
In a recent investor's call (via The Verge), CD Projekt RED CFO Piotr Nielubowicz told investors that GOG's poor financial performance, "does present a challenge," and the company is taking steps, "to improve its financial standing."
“First and foremost, we’ve decided that GOG should focus more on its core business activity," said Nielubowicz.
"Which means offering a handpicked selection of games with its unique DRM-free philosophy. In line with this approach, there will be changes in the team structure.”
GOG reported a loss of $1.14 million for the last financial quarter and lost $2.21 million over the last three quarters. In 2019, GOG had to let go of around a dozen employees or 10% of the overall staff.
Speaking with Kotaku, one of the employees that left the company had said, "GOG’s revenue couldn’t keep up with growth, the fact that we’re dangerously close to being in the red has come up in the past few months, and the market’s move towards higher [developer] revenue shares has, or will, affect the bottom line as well."
The digital storefront market on PC has really crowded up over the last few years with larger publishers like Epic Games opening up their own storefronts. Valve's Steam, which had the advantage of starting early, is the dominant service.
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