No, you really don't "know" at all unless you've asked them and can quote them saying that. In fact your arbitrary "6 month" time limit seems to be some personal invention you desperately want to believe is true rather than anything I've ever heard proposed from any publisher. Which AAA publishers are saying "we'll release all our AAA games on GOG in exchange for 6 months of DRM"? Quote them. You are the only person I've ever read keep on pushing some imaginary magic "6 month timer" as if it were fact.

What the vast majority of AAA publishers actually want in modern AAA's in the real world is maxed out monetization for their modern games, and a lot of that will require permanent DRM. It makes absolute zero sense as to why devs would refuse to launch on GOG DRM-Free due to a 6 year wait being some internal requirement / policy but only if it's Steam DRM but then switch to being happy with a 6 month wait if it's GOG DRM when nothing has changed about their bottom line. For all you know, they may be happy with DRM on GOG but also insist on exactly the same 6 year wait (GOG DRM -> GOG DRM-Free) they otherwise would had they gone Steam-only or demand special exceptions for in-game monetisation (aka DLC is permanently DRM'd). "Oh yeah, well GOG should threaten...", and then they won't come here no different to now.

Again I'll repeat as it seems to be an issue you are stuck on - in many cases of games coming here after long delays it wasn't DRM that's the issue. Bioshock (2007) took 11 years to come here (2018) and yet it was sold DRM-Free on Humble since the early / mid 2015's years before we saw a GOG edition. Costume Quest 2 came to GOG last year in 2023. Guess what? It's been DRM-Free all along on Steam (since 7th Oct 2014). I have hundreds more examples. So when it takes 8-15 years to get games that already DRM-Free elsewhere here, the main "holdup" very obviously isn't lack of GOG DRM, and this "applying DRM to GOG games is a magic wand that will get everything here in 6 months" fantasy is almost completely divorced from observable reality. If every DRM-Free game launched here day one and all AAA's refused all they all said "DRM" was the reason, you might have a point but when we wait +13 years for DOS games like Heretic (DRM-Free on Steam since 2007 but only came to GOG in 2020) but only wait 3 years to get DRM'd AAA Prey (2017) in the same 2020, then your "GOG DRM will fix everything in 6 months" theory has some huge gaping logic holes in it....

As for "Oh yeah, well GOG just need to sue all their partners". Just stop. I've already replied to this by pointing out the common sense obvious - those partners would drop GOG like a rock and pull everything else they publish here. How about "no" we don't want a lawsuit-crazy DRM'd GOG that ends up getting blacklisted by every sane publisher and the loss of dozens / hundreds of existing DRM-Free titles by same publishers?...

Yes I do. I only waited 3 years for DRM-Free Prey (2017) and yes, I was happy with that. Plenty of fish in the backlog. In fact I'm happy in general to wait to get a BS-free DRM-Free version that's actually patched up rather than be an unpaid beta-tester for the usual Day 1 buggy-mess releases. Same reason I don't pre-order anything from any store. Half the AAA games released amusingly take 6 months to 6 years anyway to patch up, even DRM-Free ones so I'll definitely take waiting over 'embracing' DRM on a DRM-Free store any day. And your "MAYBE" is a false dilemma logical fallacy that pushes the incorrect belief that the alternative would be some "GUARANTEE" of getting them if only the store allowed DRM. Ask developers what they actually think (instead of what you want to believe they think) and the biggest issue for GOG is "Update Fatigue" not "lack of DRM". Many of them just don't want to be on too many stores, DRM or not, because it multiplies their update / patching / achievement, etc, workload. The same workload your multiple DRM & DRM-Free dual releases are adding to...

I could spend all day giving example after example of how some of the longest +10 year waits on GOG were for games that were already DRM-Free. And equally long listing the thousands of titles (inc AAA) that are DRM'd on Steam but still not for sale on other stores that already welcome DRM (eg, Epic Game Store, Origin, MS Store). Deus Ex Human Revolution, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, etc, are sold DRM-Free on GOG but you still can't buy them even DRM'd on Epic Game Store. You think GOG DRM will automatically bring Dark Souls trilogy here? Then why didn't Epic DRM and MS Store DRM automatically bring them over there?... So yet again, DRM isn't the universal "blocker" single-issue you are falsely portraying it to be, and the real world is a whole lot more complicated than "DRM = a magic wand that will get GOG all AAA's after 6 months", already disproven simply by looking at the other non-Steam stores that accept DRM (Origin, Epic, Ubisoft) but and still don't have most 3rd party AAA's either...

You never said you'd support it, but you support another big leap on the way to it. The rest will just naturally follow, with or without your blessing.

Yes, I have no problem with waiting for games, there are way too many to play already, and in fact having them years down the line is better, they're patched up and probably complete (and no question whether future updates will come because there likely won't be future updates), they're way cheaper, and they tend to require a less powerful computer than new ones. I never have and never will buy a game on a DRMed platform (which, for clarification, includes one that requires a specialized client, or anything other than the general purpose browser I'm regularly using, even if the game will be supposedly DRM free once installed, or even once downloaded). But before GOG yeah, "piracy" was it, bar a few retail purchases and a few good full games from gaming magazines, and if there will come a day when I'll want a particular game so much that won't be available in a place I'd be able to get it from DRM free, it will once again be the alternative, sure. Again, DRMed stores basically don't exist as far as I'm concerned, anything only legally available with DRM is to be either ignored or "pirated", period (and little reason to not just ignore it when there are so many games out there).
Nah, if you're looking to get a majority from the masses, that will never happen. What you can get is a critical mass of interested and active people to create enough pressure, make enough noise, to get some regulators on their side (or maybe find allies among the regulators directly, that's the preferred way of course) and impose certain measures. That's the only way to get things done.

Eh...

I waited a decade for a DRM-free Skyrim ... when it finally came, I honestly was just no longer interested.

I never really liked TES that much anyway.

You know, I'd think most people would rather wait years for a DRM-free game, than see DRM'd games on this store with the magic promise that they'll be DRM-free in six months' time.

The issue is you need to have a critical mass of people here to buy all your games in just enough amounts to keep devpubs happy. Make it so the people who have to use more tools to bring games on GOG see that it's worth their time and effort selling their games on GOG.

I don't think GOG is in danger, and there's still room for opportunities to get more new users and more sales.

I keep asking myself, now and then - How strong is the DRM-Free movement really?

Sure many of us older folk feel really strongly about it, but we are a dwindling number.

How many young folk are all that concerned about DRM-Free I wonder?
It seems it is much less, and they will be the dictating body going forward.
Most are happy enough or tolerant enough of with Steam etc.

It is hard to see DRM-Free as lasting, especially with the acceptance of and desire for streaming, and access to always something new via a subscription. There is a kind of false dichotomy, that subscriptions save money ... sure you get more for your buck, but overall you probably end up spending more than you would have ... especially where one service doesn't provide it all.

Most of the rest of the entertainment industry is heavily into DRM of one sort or another ... music perhaps being one exception, except many now pay for the likes of Spotify (a form of DRM), rather than buy media or files ... and of course, many just tolerate the adverts of free versions, with the same end result.

It greatly concerns me, that my kids won't see the real benefit of what I can pass onto them. Once they buy into the free or paid versions, then it is only with great cost that they can opt out ... that cost being buying everything they have fallen in love with while using the streaming services ... if they even can.

DRM-free is as important as domestic made products are to the mass markets. Incredibly irrelevant until it's too late.

Well, the public did react to The Crew, and also when people lost some e-books they had purchased.

So at least it seems people do care, at least when it bits them in the ass. Before that they just keep repeating themselves "everything is fine, everything is fine...", hoping that their fears never materialize.

And when they finally do, they act surprised and angry and everything "Well I'll be, I would have NEVER expected this to happen! How dare they? I paid for this stuff you know, isn't there a law against this sort of thing that makes me sad?".

The EU initiative thingie is a symptom of this, a misguided attempt to curb of such things ever happening again, ever and never! EU please save us, don't let the evil publishers take our online games from us!

All the more reason to push hard now for regulations. There were better moments in the past, with a stronger DRM free movement and Pirate Parties actually getting seats (now they're down from 4 to a single MEP. but as you say, it's still better now than it seems like it'll be later.

The "pirate party" at least in Finland was a total joke, the members appeared like some new age cult believing in fairies and whatnot, and IIRC they had some criminal records as well.

EDIT: To clarify, its ex-chairman was charged with possession of drugs and assault and battery of his girlfriend. The got a sentence for the drugs (including LSD, yikes!) but not assault and battery. Oh well, not different from the Green Party then I guess.

Well, can't say I even heard of the Finnish Pirates so far, but others are quite serious. German ones tend to be notable, see Patrick Breyer and Julia (apparently now Felix) Reda. And Czechs seem to have the most success, had 3 MEPs, now the only one left is from there, and they're in the national governing coalition and have ministries.

Because Skyrim was...not great.

People fell for the hype but Oblivion and Skyrim for me were very similar games except that Skyrim polished some of Oblivion's limitations.

For me Morrowind is still the best in the series followed by Daggerfall.

Well, strong enough to ensure there's a release here roughly every day - if not two. Strong enough that Bethesda didn't send the doom combo our way one year later, and gave it free to everyone who even so much as touched doom.

Not strong enough to get Skyrim earlier, but at least it was strong enough to get Fallout 4 at a much shorter time distance than we got Skyrim.

Things are far from rosy especially with LAYVE SERFESESSSSSS but arguably these kinds of games were fated to die from day 0, so they're just noise that drowns out the sound. We have demonstrated that games like the new, fake-ass version of Hitman with so much online dependencies are not welcome here, and here is where you can get full, compromised (mostly) single-player experiences as the bare minimum. If people want the crew, a game designed to depend on the online aspect, it's their loss probably. It'd be nice to have legislation to make these games less doomed from the start and more salvageable for sure.

We just need more people swearing that streaming is not the way, swearing that ownership is such a liberating concept. Swearing that subscriptions are limiting. These kinds of people will be there in time.

I think you need to look at that in greater detail .... what games and where from?
And how many new games turn up on Steam etc every day.

You cannot reliably count on Bethesda. Look at how many of their games still aren't here. And look at how long it took for Quake Enhanced to finally turn up at GOG. DOOM + DOOM II seem more of an exception than the norm.

(I could say the same about folk not buying over-priced games, would drive them prices down if enough did that. Alas it is just not going to ever happen. It's rarely about sense and logic.

GOG have been pushing DRM-Free for over 16 years now, and what has that really resulted in?
Sure they have grown, but who are the majority of their customers now?
And how well are GOG doing really?
How much has GOG changed, and in what ways?
What do most gamers want now?
How much has DRM-Free really caught on?
etc etc

It's no longer just about Rent-A-Game-At-Steam versus Own-A-Game-At-GOG. We have the streaming subscription model looming on the horizon.

Increasingly, folk want quantity and variety and cheap access.

We've all seen the impact of the likes of Netflix and Spotify, and you have somewhat similar services for ebooks. It probably won't be long before Windows is a subscription service, just like MS Office already is. Will Apple go that way too?

The state of DRM-Free gaming is quite the mystery isn't it?

I wonder how many customers at GOG download Offline Installers each year?
Has it been going up? Or are many of us right, in thinking it has continually gone down?

If things were going well in that regard, then you would think GOG would publish results, as that would likely encourage more to do so. It would also help dispel many related rumors of issues etc.

And why do GOG have such an attachment to Galaxy, above and beyond Offline Installers?
Sure you can also download Offline Installers via Galaxy's Extras menu, but do you ever read about GOG pushing that?
Or is all the focus, on using the Galaxy download and install process?

Certainly if you don't download and backup Offline Installers, you remain reliant on your web connection and Galaxy, and relying on Galaxy means relying on GOG. No doubt GOG want us to rely on them.

So we have a bit of a quandary in that regard ... mixed messages even.

It is an interesting and worrisome dilemma.

That's certainly true, but I'm just pointing out that Bethy could've just left us to rot a year or two, keeping us GOG users away from one simple collection and one new expansion. They gave it all to us Day 1. Things might just turn around.

I can't really answer these questions on my own, but what I can say is that now we have a broader and healthier selection of games than we did, like, ten years ago or even five years ago. Between slightly older AAAs and high quality indie games, I feel we made it to the point where there's enough of a selection to not need another store except maybe itch.io for a wider indie coverage. Now what's left is what, fairly recent to brand new AAAs? The ones that sell you booster packs so you can play the game less? It's a bit of a stretch I admit but we might have a better shot at those a few years from now, than we did for Skyrim.

Sure we'll have to compete with the purchasing habits made by those subscription services now. But I think people who buy their games ultimately make more profit for publishers than those easy ones they got on cheap subscriptions. Buying stuff will be the only way to experience some games, e.g. older entries in a long running series but the last installment is on subscription or something. It's that kinda thing.