GamerNode: Interviews - Interview with Good Old Games

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So what's the process for getting a back catalogue on board? How do you decide which titles you're going to take from a publisher?

Basically saying we're going after old games, at least 3 or 4 years old, that were critically acclaimed by gamers and gaming media. But we're also looking for games that went under the radar of gaming journalists, sometimes because of bad marketing or because they were released in the same time as other big titles, but are considered by many gamers as cult games.

When we decide what games we're looking for, our Business Development team starts to search for the rights holders and this can be a real pain in the ass. In many cases the original developer or publisher, who owned the rights to certain titles, was bought by another company or went bankrupt, so it's really time consuming to find the right person who might help us to solve those tricky situations. When we finally contact the owners of the game we send them the agreement and start negotiations which also can take up to couple weeks or even months.

You have some really big publishers on board -- Ubisoft and Codemasters, for example. Does that mean we might eventually see the likes of EA on your service?

Our goal is to make GOG.com the ultimate place for classic PC games and their fans, to achieve that we have to offer the biggest catalogue of classics. We've already secured the deals with the mentioned Ubisoft and Codmasters, but also Interplay, Apogee, Rebellion, Epic, almost 30 publishers. Electronic Arts owns a lot of old IPs that we'd love to release on GOG and I believe it's just a matter of time when we'll offer those great titles to our users.

What are your thoughts on competing game services, like Metaboli (Gametap in the US)? Now that Steam has started offering back catalogues -- sometimes the same titles you offer, like Sacrifice/MDK/Kingpin, from Interplay -- is their higher profile going to eat into your userbase?

The digital distribution market is growing with every year and it's a normal thing that new platforms for digitally downloadable games appear and the competition gets bigger. But right now we're not considering other platforms as direct competition for GOG, because we're focused on old games while others are mainly about new releases. Steam has started releasing some classic PC games, but I think it's just an addition to their whole offer and won't make a bigger impact on our userbase. Every platform has it's unique features and offerings and in my opinion there's no reason we couldn't exist next to each other.

Is there a worry that your users might buy a couple of titles for the nostalgia, then just go back to the latest-greatest-newest games? This industry has, after all, been built on obsolescence as a driver of new sales.

Well, it's a fact, our users buy the old games from GOG as well as the new releases. It's a normal thing, but classic games have that something special that make us gamers to go back and replay them again and again. It's just like with movies and music. I'm a huge fan of old games as these are titles that I grew up on, but that doesn't mean I'm not waiting impatiently for the big hits like Modern Warfare 2 or Gran Turismo 5.

Does the team have any favourite games? Anything you come back to again and again in the lunch hour?

I think the team's favourite are the first two Fallouts, but if we're talking about multiplayer games which we can play all together in the office these have to be Unreal Tournament 2k4 and Duke Nukem 3D. If you haven't played those games, be sure to make it up.

What are the games that you would kill to have available on GOG.com? I'd love to see Elite, Syndicate, and a little known RTS called Baldies; that was awesome :)

I remember Baldies. Haven't played it, but remember reading about it in PC magazines back in the days, it looked like a funnier version of The Settlers. I'm a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, so I'd love to see the LucasArts and Sierra games on GOG as soon as possible. But there are hundreds of games that deserve to get revived: Baldur's Gate, System Shock, Planescape Torment, or Syndicate you mentioned. We'll do our best to bring those titles back.

What are the plans for the next 12 months and beyond? Can we expect more classic gaming, or do you have any plans to branch out -- perhaps offer games from different formats, or port titles to Mac, for instance?

I can't reveal much as you wouldn't have any surprises then :). All I can say is that we have some big deals coming pretty soon with lots of great classics. Aside of expanding our catalogue of Good Old Games, our dev team is also working on the site update that will bring more cool features to the service itself. There are also some other plans to keep our users entertained as GOG.com isn't just a regular digital distribution outlet, but the best place for classic games fans on the internet. I promise you we'll keep adding lots of cool things, we're just getting started. :)

Thanks, Lukasz!

"Now how do I get my free games?!?!" That's the question on your mind, of course. Well it's easy, simply register on GN and leave a comment below to be entered in a drawing for the 10 free games OF YOUR CHOICE on GOG.com. The winner will be selected randomly, and contacted within one week of the article's posting date. Good luck!

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Posted by chrisis on 10/27/2009 at 12:51PM

GOG is great, I love that service. I really do. Bought a few games there and all run flawlessly and are as good as I remember them.

Posted by avataroflight on 10/27/2009 at 12:52PM

Praise GOG and praise its allies! o/

Posted by WTElessar on 10/27/2009 at 12:52PM

Great interview. (:

Posted by gnflx on 10/27/2009 at 12:53PM

GOG.com is apparently one my most visited websites. Great service and great community :-) Keep it up!

Posted by hankscorpio83 on 10/27/2009 at 12:57PM

GOG is awesome! Free games are the awesomest. :)

Posted by BoxOfSnoo on 10/27/2009 at 12:58PM

I'm possibly more hooked on GOG.com than the games themselves :) Thanks for giving them the spotlight.

Posted by Kradath on 10/27/2009 at 12:58PM

Gog is the best download service of all!

Posted by Ralackk on 10/27/2009 at 12:59PM

Good interview, can't wait for these up and coming big suprises.

Posted by acare84 on 10/27/2009 at 01:02PM

GOG.com is always a good service for good old games. Awesome interview BTW.

Posted by Amn on 10/27/2009 at 01:03PM

Always looking forward to new releases on GoG. For so many of those games, playing them is like re-living my childhood.

Posted by cheilman on 10/27/2009 at 01:04PM

Woo, GoG rocks.

Posted by Ziffy on 10/27/2009 at 01:04PM

I'm a big fan and have been a member of GOG for nearly 400 days now (yes, since the beginning). This was a great interview though and i for one am really looking forward to the new old titles!

Posted by dermaestro on 10/27/2009 at 01:05PM

I love GOG, but I'm still waiting for System Shock 2! Great interview and an interesting read.

Posted by spats on 10/27/2009 at 01:12PM

GOG is a great, well presented website. So much incredible nostalgia in that header image alone :--)

Posted by alexei_net on 10/27/2009 at 01:14PM

GOG is strong!
(dont really know what to post, since winner will be chosen by random :p)

Posted by mroaes on 10/27/2009 at 01:15PM

Long live GOG!

Posted by hisnameisrob on 10/27/2009 at 01:20PM

I' think GOG is already a great site and their plans for the future are very exciting. It will be great to see some games like Simcity 2000 and Transport Tycoon on it in the future.

Posted by g10tto on 10/27/2009 at 01:21PM

You rock GOG!!!!!

Posted by udoh on 10/27/2009 at 01:22PM

www.gog.com is just one of the best ideas in recent years. I love it too bits.

Posted by csmith811 on 10/27/2009 at 01:22PM

This would be the best contest win ever. Love GOG and their continued devotion to taking my money by providing awesome games.

Posted by Delixe on 10/27/2009 at 01:22PM

www.GOG.com is an absolute pleasure to use. Looking forward to seeing it grow of the next few years.

Posted by Isernbreegen on 10/27/2009 at 01:25PM

I had my doubts if GOG could survive - I can't believe how great it worked out. Really, really awesome work and one of those websites I just *love* spending money on.

Posted by Jeffmoocow on 10/27/2009 at 01:30PM

GOG has probably become my favorite site ever lately.

Posted by djitfey on 10/27/2009 at 01:33PM

GOG has been the first site where I've bought digital material and it's worth it!

Posted by JamesGecko on 10/27/2009 at 01:33PM

GoG is pretty cool. I especially like the forum community which sprung up. Some intelligent gaming discussion goes on over there.

Posted by touche112 on 10/27/2009 at 01:33PM

I love GOG - re-bought Fallout 1 from them so it'd work on Win7. :P

Posted by grosquick on 10/27/2009 at 01:35PM

GOG, first site i bought a game on :)

Posted by Shrdlu on 10/27/2009 at 01:36PM

I feel that it is pretty amazing that they've gotten the collection of awesome games that they have already all for sale in one store. I know I've bought a game or two just to play for nostalgia and others that I play because they did fly under my radar! Interesting to see that they are actively searching out holders for long forgotten games. I look forward to seeing what else shows up in their store.

Had I not spent all of my meager salary on buying my home a month ago, I'd have purchased every game on their site!

Posted by Pnikosis on 10/27/2009 at 01:42PM

GOG has given me the chance to replay titles that I left unfinished. I love the fact they are DRM, just download, install and play; I try to avoid buying classic titles from other digital distribution services for that reason.

The community is awesome too.

Posted by Wasgo on 10/27/2009 at 01:45PM

I would love to win these games. GOG is awesome!

Posted by PsychosesMan on 10/27/2009 at 01:59PM

I love the heck out of GOG and have supported and will continue to support them with my business, but this interview sounded really... marketingy. Understandable, I guess, when you just want to get the word out about your (wonderful) business, but in future interviews I think y'all would come off a lot better if you sounded more natural and the questions were made to elicit a bit more insight.

Obviously I'll still be buying stuff from you whenever I have some spare cash and/or whenever you have your delightfully frequent sales either way. :)

Posted by GoliathSK on 10/27/2009 at 02:12PM

GoG.com is a very good website. I haven't purchased a lot of games yet, but I certainly will in the future. It feels good to be a part of this community.

Nice interview, keep up the good work :)

Posted by WarFalci on 10/27/2009 at 02:16PM

I support GOG as much as the next guy. :)

A shame that the interview didn't add much to what we already know about GOG and the upcoming stuff. They really should enjoy these opportunities to add some expectancy.

Well, here's me hoping for a game or 10... ;D

Posted by DustyE on 10/27/2009 at 02:25PM

GOG.com is my favorite place to buy games period. Not just old games. They make the experience so easy, and the added little touches like game soundtracks and avatars make each game special. I love GOG.com and it's good to hear they've got plans to add more great games and publishers!

Posted by BlueToxic on 10/27/2009 at 02:31PM

Great article.

GOG.com is awesome, I really hope they get the LucasArt-classics soon.

Posted by n0manarmy on 10/27/2009 at 02:50PM

I've been using GOG.com since it's beta and I check it regularly along with my other sites. It's provided a service, I think, that rivals any other software retail site. Not only are they allowing access to titles that I've grown up with and have loved, they do it in a way that's non-invasive and intrusive. My only hopes are that they spend time going further back in to the much older titles such as Jones In The Fast Lane and Zeliard instead of trying to rebox semi current titles. For me, if I can to go a game store and find it in the used bins, it shouldn't be on GOG yet.

You guys rock and have done a fantastic job so far. Thanks for all the hard work and it's good to see the continued expansion!

Posted by blackdrazon on 10/27/2009 at 02:51PM

GOG's always a highlight of the week. It's nice to show up more or less every Tuesday and Thursday and see a new release, be it one you've been hoping for or one you didn't know you wanted.

Posted by Taczbr on 10/27/2009 at 02:56PM

Yes yes yes!!!
I love the gog service, and it's nice to see bigger and bigger interviews featuring those guys.
Here's hoping for Mac and Linux games with quality, and always drm-free. ;)

Posted by Vestin on 10/27/2009 at 03:01PM

When I first heard what the idea behind GOG was, I thought it was too utopian to be true.
Some time passed and they don't cease to amaze me; with jewels like The Longest Journey and Heroes of Might and Magic 3...

Posted by RolodeX on 10/27/2009 at 04:42PM

Recent games aren't as good as they used to be. Thank you GOG.com!

Posted by Necronian on 10/27/2009 at 05:15PM

GOG is awesome

Posted by flibber on 10/27/2009 at 06:12PM

I have much love for GOG--I just wish it could get System Shock 2, or Planescape: Torment already!

Posted by Imonfire on 10/27/2009 at 06:14PM

I love GOG. I just wish they had multi-language games tho.

Posted by FiXato on 10/27/2009 at 06:15PM

Interesting interview! It was nice to read about their selection and conversion process!
Looking forward to the surprises GoG has lined up for us! Really hope it includes Outcast ;-)

*waits for the new Gem of the Week to be announced :D*

Posted by Ketchua on 10/27/2009 at 06:42PM

The only mildly annoying thing is that GOG seems to be pushing newer titles rather than old ones lately. But I still love them.:)

Posted by Noeatcatfish on 10/27/2009 at 06:43PM

GOG is an incredible site. It's harder to find a simpler pleasure in life than a computer game that is cheap, DRM-free and ready to go.

Posted by dorianGREY on 10/27/2009 at 06:51PM

GOG offers an incredible service at an awesome price. Does their site not show developers how much people hate drm? lol. anyway well well done GOG.

Posted by jambo on 10/27/2009 at 07:06PM

Love me some GOG, got Freesapce 2 incredibly cheap, and with the awesome modding community for it am still having great fun!

Posted by Zardus on 10/27/2009 at 07:18PM

I find that since GOG has no DRM, I would rather buy (gift) something like Lords of the Realm 2 to friends at a LAN party rather than copy it to them. This is completely unprecedented in LAN parties around here. The lack of DRM has actually drastically decreased piracy from my experience.

And $18 extra is definitely worth it to play a 4-player game of LOTR2!

Posted by Victrolal on 10/27/2009 at 08:07PM

Its the add ons that keep surprising me: like the quality of the soundtracks ... And, those manuals: for me, I need more info on some aspects of games (like refining, for example). With the extra instructions, I don't get frustrated and quit a game because I am stuck.

What I see from the other posters above me is the same thing I feel: that surprise when I come back to the site and there is still quality info and services. Maybe we have all had that disappointment when you come back to a site and it might be gone or have intermittent posting or just a copy of news from other sites. So thank you for providing new News and featuring games that we might have missed elsewhere.

Posted by wyaman on 10/27/2009 at 08:09PM

I love being able to play a number of classic games that I missed out on when I was younger, especially at the great prices they're offered. Go GOG!

Posted by Catshade on 10/27/2009 at 09:39PM

I'd die happy if they got Planescape Torment (or any other D&D franchise) :D

Posted by Black_Fox on 10/27/2009 at 09:42PM

Games from EA could also be interesting to see in GOG catalogue :)

Posted by Badskin Robbins on 10/28/2009 at 02:54AM

I can't add an more praise. I just want free games.

Posted by radomaj on 10/28/2009 at 02:57AM

Adding Planescape to their offerings shouldn't be that hard, considering CD Projekt is already selling it at retail.

Posted by thekittster on 10/28/2009 at 03:16AM

GOG.com is fantastic - the only problem is finding the time to play all the good old games!

Posted by s_grind on 10/28/2009 at 03:16AM

I spend way too much time hanging out at GOG. Plus i've bought too many games there.
There's something about them that makes me want to support them. Highly recommended.

Posted by yoKenny on 10/28/2009 at 10:03AM

Freespace and Patrician rock!
Keep it up gog.

Posted by october on 10/28/2009 at 12:26PM

GOG is the best DD service for old games.

Posted by Josh Hubi on 10/28/2009 at 12:50PM

GOG is epicly great!

Posted by Pantheran on 10/28/2009 at 01:43PM

GOG is selling my childhood back to me. I'm not sure if this is awesome or evil. Probably both.

Posted by Dan Crabtree on 10/28/2009 at 02:47PM

SIIIICK

Posted by exoudeous on 10/28/2009 at 03:39PM

woot, I love video games. GoG is awesome for bringing back the classics.

Posted by Legandir on 10/28/2009 at 10:47PM

GoG is indeed awesome.

Posted by ishban on 10/29/2009 at 01:31AM

Love GoG since i found them have been able to relive some of my favorite old games and found a couple I had not played before. Thanks GoG

Posted by quamper on 10/29/2009 at 11:43AM

I've seen GoG around plenty but hadn't made the step to get anything from them. But dang seeing they just released Divine Divinity might push me over the edge.

Posted by Chumski on 10/29/2009 at 06:25PM

GoG is the dopest idea...great games with no DRM. THANK you CD-Projekt!

Posted by Eien on 10/31/2009 at 07:11AM

gotta love the fact that they have a lot of sci-fi in there, those are my favorites!

Posted by Oddleaf on 11/03/2009 at 09:13PM

Good Old Games, all i can say is the best invention/web ever made. Cheap Classic Games what more could a gamer ask for. i love going back in time with GOG and experienced the games that i played when i was a little kid and see how bad i am playing them compared to back then. GOG is also a marking point in Digital download easy web 2.0 look with there own GOG Downloader makes life easy as PIE!!!

Posted by Eddie R Inzauto on 11/08/2009 at 02:03AM

To all who are patiently waiting to find out if they won, Zardus has taken the prize and is now swimming in Good Old Games. Thanks for participating!