CD Projekt sells games platform GOG
The Polish games company CD Projekt is selling its games platform GOG. The buyer is Michał Kiciński, who co-founded both companies.
Michał Kiciński is buying the GOG games platform from the Polish games company CD Projekt. The sale price is 90.7 million Złoty, which corresponds to approximately 20.5 million Euros. Kiciński co-founded both GOG and CD Projekt.
This makes Kiciński the sole owner of GOG. For the games platform, this means independence from the Polish games company CD Projekt, which, in addition to operating GOG, is also dedicated to developing blockbuster games such as "The Witcher 3" and "Cyberpunk 2077". However, games from CD Projekt are to remain available on GOG. Future titles are also to be released on GOG.
„Good old Games“
GOG was founded in 2008 as "Good Old Games" primarily to sell classic video games. Part of this task also involved keeping these games up-to-date and ensuring compatibility with modern systems. In addition to older games, GOG also offers some new releases – primarily titles from CD Projekt. However, some indie studios also release their titles directly on GOG at launch. In total, GOG's portfolio comprises 11,000 games, all offered without copy protection.
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Nothing fundamental will change about GOG's concept, promises Michał Kiciński in a statement. His goal is merely to secure GOG's vision for the future. No changes are to be expected from the user's perspective either; it is also stated in an FAQ. Thus, it remains optional to use the GOG Galaxy launcher to start games. Libraries will also remain untouched.
CD Projekt decided to sell to concentrate solely on the development of video games, according to the FAQ. GOG has already been managed largely independently in recent years.
GOG makes hardly any profit
According to gamesindustry.biz, Kiciński still holds 10 percent of CD Projekt, making him the second-largest shareholder of the games company. Compared to game publishing, GOG accounted for only a small portion of CD Projekt's profits. According to the latest quarterly report from CD Projekt, the game development division CD Projekt Red generated approximately 45 million Euros in the past year from January to the end of September – mind you, without any new releases. In the same period, GOG achieved a profit of about 400,000 Euros. In the previous year, GOG had even made losses.
(dahe)
