GOG Interview

Given how closely GOG.com’s sensibilities align with GameBanshee’s, we’ve always made an exception on our strictly RPG-focused coverage to dedicate them some newsposts. It goes without saying then that, while aficionados of the digital delivery store probably won’t find much new in it, this article-style interview with managing director Guillaume Rambourg from Forbes contributor Erik Kain is worth sharing. Here’s a snip:

(It’s hard for the industry to think this way,) Rambourg says, (but consider this: if Zork I had an always-on internet connection requirement, do you think it would still be possible to sell the game 33 years later and have it work? It does work just fine on GOG.com, and the rights holders make revenue on this great old classic, but that’s because it’s not crippled with a short-sighted DRM policy. Of course, it wasn’t possible to use DRM like that back in the day, but I think it’s best for all of us who like seeing the classics that shaped gaming that it wasn’t.)

Always-online should be reserved for MMORPGs, Rambourg says, because large online games are built with an always-online internet connection in mind. It’s the point of this sort of game.

(However,) he says, (using an (always-online) feature for games that very much look and taste like single player titles is really a worrying trend to me and just like any short-sighted fasion out there, I hope it will just vanish in a near future.)

We’ve seen plenty of examples of always-online DRM breaking games already.

Diablo III not only had a botched launch, Blizzard’s latest action-RPG has no user mods thanks to its always-online nature. This stands in stark contrast not just with the previous Diablo games, but with the competition. Torchlight 2 is a modder’s paradise, and while it’s not quite the same type of game, CDP’s Witcher 2 recently had its own suite of modding tools released upon the world.

EA’s SimCity 5 had an even more disastrous launch than Diablo III. Worse still, the reasons developer Maxis gave for making the game always-online were quickly debunked. The video game industry has much to learn about its customer base.

The music industry has already started to learn these lessons, Rambourg says. So have book publishers as DRM-free eBooks have become more and more common. Even Hollywood is starting to understand how damaging DRM can be to their products. In time, the video game industry will learn the same lessons hopefully.