I like this idea, but it must be curated. Games are an artistic expression, and as long as gog deems it to be of a sufficient quality, the themes and type of conent of the game shouldn't matter. I'd love to see higher budgeted games focusing on themes like grief or sexuality. Hell, when was the last time a big studio relesed a game that focused on simple romance? 2014 with the sims 4? I really wish that gog would take on the mantle of a more open and allowing storefront, not for the sake of low effort and slapdashed VNs, but for what we could have in the future.

Sales are not the only measure to judge a service by. If GOG stood up where Steam backed away, that sends a message to developers and customers. If you want to build an empire, long term thinking and ambition is key. Unfortunately, I get the impression that GOG lacks a spine nor has a mission.

So what would have been the message? Make an edgy game and we'll put it on sale no matter the quality?

The single biggest opportunity!

I'm not sure if OP is serious or joking, I find his post more entertaining than the games being suggested. I think we'd sooner see Skyrim than these games here.

Personally I don't wish to see these games here, have nothing against anime or visual novels, I just don't think they fit here.

I completely agree with OP. As an user mentioned before, GOG not only being a DRM free platform but also censorship free platform really evokes a pro-consumer image.

The only thing that GOG would have to do is put an option in the client that hides the "+18 content" by default so people that do not wish to see this content aren't exposed to it. Wait... no, not the "+18 content". I forgot that internet is full of american purists that are fine with explosions and gore, but a nipple is the devil for them. Let's just call the option "Hide Sexual Content".

This also opens the possibility to have those games fully uncensored since they're already qualified in the section to which they belong, so any censorship would be unnecessary.

As much as I wanna agree with this, there has to be a enforceable way to determine that a user is 18+. A credit card check won't do. Nor would a driver's license check. An age gate is partically unenforceable. SOMETHING has to be there so GOG can say their adult store is protected. I would LOVE to see this store with affordable prices but clear that 18+ hurdle and then I will look at it.

I don't think it's something that would need to be enforced. I suggested there could be an option in the client that "Hides Sexual Content" that's activated by default. So if a user has access to that content it would be completely their decision.

Right, so the correct thing for you to do is not to wake them up.

I already voted for this. It's one of the first things I voted for when I went vote happy when I joined. So of course, my stance is still the same which is strongly agree with anti-censorship.

Oh, I quite agree that Hatred is kinda shite. But that was fairly obvious from the get go. The devs weren't selling the game with "OMG!!!! This gameplay looks awesome!!!", they were selling it with "OMG, dat edge!!!!!". And it worked. 100-200K sales based on edge alone isn't too shabby.

As far as missed opportunities go, I'm mainly referring to gog possibly gaining some street cred for deciding to sell the game. It would have put Steam at a disadvantage: Valve would have been the cowards who refused to carry the edgefest 100K people were eager to spend their money on, while gog would be seen as the cool guys for giving people what they wanted. Even if Steam then would have put it back into the catalogue, the consensous would have been "They're only selling it now because gog is selling it." I still think it would have made for good PR.

I doubt it would have earned them street cred. People would have accused them of jumping on the bandwagon selling a controversial game, which is not even a good game, for easy money.

It would have even earned derision from people like me. Who thought Hatred as lacking taste, gameplay, and as much as something resembling a point.

If I wanted a pointless murder sim, there are games that do it so much better without an oppressive air of self loathing and the stink of Shadow the Hedgehog around it.

I don't really think the comparison with Hatred is fair. We are talking about totally different genres here.

Besides, that amount of sales for a VN would be a good thing.

Are you being deliberately obtuse? The point is that GOG could demonstrate a willingness and ability to do things that Steam can't - refusing to give into the demands of moral busybodies is something that consumers and developers appreciate.

Whether or not a product is forced to be "all ages" dictates if I am willing to buy it. Steam lost at least $70 dollars over the Grisaia trilogy, because I decided to refuse their censored offerings. That money went to Denpasoft, since they demonstrated and provided a product that didn't insult my ability to choose.

The availability of product, without DRM nor censorship, is key to empowering people to choose what they enjoy. Be it Hatred, Tetris, Okami, Math Blaster, or Bible Black, people should be able to enjoy themselves without some jerk telling them otherwise.

And you are forgetting GOG fancies itself a curated store. Had Hatred been a good game from their POV, they would have sold it. But it wasn't.

GOG is still trying to steer away from becoming a too crowded shovelware front, You can always argue if it's succeeding or not, but that's what they claim they are doing in any case.