When Valve bizarrely vetoed the launch of horror adventure game Horses on Steam last year, its plucky competitor GOG was quick to swoop in. "We’re proud to give HORSES a home on GOG," announced the storefront, "giving players another way to enjoy the game. We’ve always believed that players should be able to choose the experiences that speak to them." In an interview this month, managing director Maciej Gołębiewski referred to Horses when he declared that "We as a company are always ready to take a stand on the right values".
That rankled some onlookers who remembered that, well, that wasn't always GOG's stance. In 2020, it came under fire for unceremoniously dumping Devotion, which had become subject of repression in China for memes seemingly mocking president Xi Jinping. In a new interview with Eurogamer, Gołębiewski chatted a bit about how GOG looks back on that episode.
"That situation remains difficult to reflect on," said Gołębiewski. "At the time, we made that decision in the context of very real business constraints, a limited understanding of the complex geopolitical factors at play, and a lack of good options that would both protect GOG and partners and allow the game to be released responsibly.
"In hindsight, we acknowledge that this decision—and the way we communicated it—understandably damaged the trust our users have in us."
When GOG announced it wouldn't be hosting Devotion, all the way back in 2020, it came in the form of a tweet: "Earlier today, it was announced that the game Devotion is coming to GOG. After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store." That went down about as well as you'd expect at the time: GOG drew no end of criticism and mockery and at least one dev pulled their own release on GOG in solidarity with Devotion's studio, Red Candle.
"Keeping a global digital storefront operating means navigating legal, operational, and commercial realities that don't always allow for ideal outcomes," Gołębiewski told Eurogamer. "In 2020, we chose a path we believed was best for GOG, even though it came at a cost to our credibility." Letting Horses on GOG was much easier: it came without "legal, political, or operational risk to our business or partners."
Nevertheless, it seems like Gołębiewski remembers the whole thing with a wince. "When I say that we're ready to take a stand on the right values, I don't mean that we won't make mistakes, or that every decision will be easy, or that we'll never face trade-offs." Rather, he says that "with every given opportunity, we're striving to be clearer, more consistent, and more willing to stand behind our choices (including explaining them openly when they're being questioned)."
Perhaps it will be easier for GOG to make tough decisions now it only really answers to its new owner (and original co-founder) Michał Kiciński, or maybe it doesn't matter who owns you, and annoying a vast number of potential buyers in China might never be worth taking a stand.
