NowGamer talks to the minds behind DRM-free digital download site Good Old Games

Since launching last summer Good Old Games (GOG.com) has been vigorously championed by the PC gaming community for offering a selection of cheap, classic, and in some cases hard-to-find, PC games - all completely free of much maligned Digital Rights Management. Following the announcement that Ubisoft has now agreed to bring some of its back catalogue of titles to GOG's library, we caught-up with the site's managing director Adam Oldakowski and VP of marketing Tom Ohle for an exclusive chat.

How has business been at GoG since you guys started the site last year? Has the site been performing to expectations?

AO: The initial reaction from gamers and media was just incredible and it has exceeded our expectations. Gamers were looking for some place where they could find and legally buy classic PC games and we provided them with such service. When we launched we had games from Interplay, Codemasters and Strategy First and right now we can proudly say that we've signed 19 publishers including JoWood, Adventure Soft, Oddworld Inhabitants, Apogee, Revolution Software, Epic, Empire and, as just announced, Ubisoft.

We have been releasing at least two games every week and we’ve just about reached the 100-games milestone. Looking at these figures, I think we're doing pretty well.

What would you say separates GOG from other direct download sites, such as GameTap, that are in existence at the moment?

TO: As Adam alluded to, our DRM-free approach means that GOG’s games are just really user-friendly in terms of the buying and installation process. You don’t need a special client to run the games and you can re-download and install the game on as many PCs as you want.

With GameTap specifically, their focus is on their subscription service; that’s great if you’re playing all sorts of different games all the time, but at GOG.com we’ve kept our prices on individual games quite low, and you’re just paying for what you want. We also have the bonus materials that we try to include in all of our games, just to give you a bit more value with your purchase.

How does GoG benefit from not including DRM in its games?

TO: I don’t know that there’s a direct benefit to us, actually, beyond feeling that we’re doing the right thing and providing customers with an experience they’ll be happy with. The praise we’ve received from fans about our stance on DRM is reward enough.

If we were to believe some of the game publishers out there, selling DRM-free games will ultimately hurt the industry and bolster piracy, how do you respond to these kinds of criticisms of DRM-free games?

TO: I think that selling games with DRM that negatively affects even 1% of players (or less) is worse. I mean, really, you can go to any number of torrent sites and download any game you want – seriously, I don’t think there’s a single game that isn’t available for free – illegally, of course, but nevertheless they’re out there and very easy to get.

So you have the DRM-heavy approach where 1% of gamers can’t play a game and the game gets pirated anyway… or the DRM-free approach that doesn’t cause any issues for that 1% of gamers. So the choice is to either irritate or inconvenience a small portion of your fan base by treating them like potential criminals or to just treat them well.

Where do you see DRM in the next five or so years?

TO: I’m not sure if DRM will ever disappear completely; companies will always want to protect their intellectual property, and there will always be that perception of, “oh no, if we remove copy protection, surely everyone will get drunk and have big pirating parties in the streets!” But you’re already seeing a shift with iTunes offering DRM-free songs at a premium price, companies like Valve and Stardock making moves toward DRM-free distribution, and Ubisoft recently releasing Prince of Persia DRM-free. Gamers have a lot of power in the DRM debate; the more they speak out against restrictive copy protection, the more likely it is that larger companies will start to see the light.

How tough is it to convince publishers to bring their games onto GoG DRM-free?

AO: The DRM-free approach is, I think, the only thing that makes some publishers hesitant to join our service. But today's announcement of Ubisoft joining GOG.com is proof that we can convince even major publishers that the lack of copy protection shouldn't be a scary proposition; it’s actually a good thing. Our users cherish the fact that we don’t implement any kind of intrusive copy protection in our games, and they perceive every publisher that shares our DRM-free policy as a customer-friendly company that treats gamers like they should be treated.

Selling games DRM-free is still a rather new concept, but all of the recent (negative) discussion about copy protection is pushing developers and publishers to change. Still, publishers are scared of releasing games without any copy protection. They are afraid that this will drive people to pirate them, even though the games are already available on torrent sites. What's very encouraging is that we haven't seen GOG.com games on any p2p sites, meaning our users really support us and respect our work and that of the publishers.

Are you planning to branch out into offering brand new games, perhaps from smaller indie developers, or do you intend to stick with exclusively with older, yet more high profile, titles?

TO: I’d love to see some indie games at GOG, but ultimately it goes against our current plan. First and foremost we’re committed to building up a big library of classic PC games, and once we’ve exhausted our options on that front (not sure if that will ever happen) maybe we’ll look at expanding into other areas. For now gamers have a lot of ways to get new games – even indies – so we can sleep well at night knowing those gamers are getting what they want anyway.

There are some industry voices claiming that the current recession is going to speed up a wide-spread shift to the digital downloading of games, as publisher look to save money. Do you think this is possible?

AO: I think it's very possible. Digital distribution is certainly cheaper than retail distribution, and it's gaining in popularity. As I already said, people have less free time and they are looking for faster and easier ways to get what they are looking for. If they can get something without leaving their living room and if they get it cheaper than at retail, what's the point of going to the store? There are some gamers that need to have a box, a disc and a printed manual, but for those who don’t, digital distribution is a great thing. I think that the next few years will bring really rapid development and expansion of the digital download market.

If a dominance of digital downloads did become the case, how do you think it would change business within the industry for developers and publishers?

TO: It probably wouldn’t change too much, actually, though it might make it easier for smaller companies to become really successful. We’d probably see more self-sufficient developers – as long as they’re able to fund development somehow, digital distribution can remove the need for a publisher – and it’ll be easier for them to gain exposure for their products.

Right now you need a great publisher to get solid retail distribution and visibility, but in the digital space it’s really easy to get your games out there. Publishers still have a lot of power in that most development teams need their financial support to get games finished.