- The new GOG owner has doubled down on his anti-DRM stance, following The Witcher 2 in the past.
- He claims DRMs are not a viable solution to piracy and only make things difficult for consumers.
- However, many industry executives and publishers do not share the same views.
Despite Steam’s dominion over the industry, GOG gained popularity for having a ‘gamers-first’ ethos. The store has heavily focused on game preservation and anti-DRM offline installers to prioritize gamers before companies.
GOG was sold to the former CDPR studio head, Michal Kicinski, in late 2025 from CD Projekt, and the new owner is also doubling down on the store’s anti-DRM ethos. Michal claims DRMs are unable to prevent piracy since many titles get pirated nearly on day one anyway.
Why it matters: It’s clear that GOG will continue to operate under a strict anti-DRM and game preservation policy with the new management, like in the past, and serve gamers faithfully.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, the new GOG head explains that most of the corporate gaming industry is against anti-DRM views. He learned it firsthand after the Witcher 2 lawsuit by Bandai Namco for the DRM removal.
Most corporate people, they make plain stupid decisions. I had firsthand experience of this with The Witcher 2, where our own publisher sued us.
-New GOG head, Michal Kicinski.
He says Bandai failed to understand that removing DRM wasn’t harming their business because the game was already being pirated. It was only hindering the legal consumers by causing errors and lag issues.
Michal also criticized the normal gaming purchasing model, where you feel like you’re buying a license instead of a product that can be taken away anytime. GOG’s DRM-free installers ensure that gamers can install their purchases forever, as they can’t be revoked.
On a side note, Michal also says that taking on Steam isn’t a big obstacle for GOG, as long as it sticks to its strengths. He believes Steam has only held up well so far because of its reliability, and its market shares can eventually be taken away.
Do you think the new GOG owner is right on the money about his take on DRM? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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