GOG to shut down, oh sorry it was a hoax to generate buzz

[CptStern]

marketing team should be fired

This Sunday, GOG.com disappeared, replaced with a vague message from its creators about the website’s closure. It read, in part, that “GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form.” People were understandably upset. Good Old Games are a digital distributor of old, DRM-free games, and a well-respected company. People were sad to see them close down.

But it turned out they weren’t closing. Tomorrow, the site will re-launch, out of beta with some new features and some new games, but fundamentally unchanged. The closure was a hoax. After days of growing backlash as rumours spread and gamers were understandably unhappy at being fooled, we asked Good Old Games why they decided to re-launch the site in this way. Their statement is included in full below.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/22/gog-com-apologise-for-hoax-closure/

First of all we’d like to apologize to everyone who felt deceived or harmed in any way by the closedown of GOG.com. As a small company we don’t have a huge marketing budget and this why we could not miss a chance to generate some buzz around an event as big as launching a brand new version of our website and even more important, bringing back Baldur’s Gate to life!

We believe this title was extremely expected by all our users and PC gamers in general. It would have made no sense to announce it in a typical plain corporate way. Our aim at GOG is to promote the greatest DRM-free PC classics ever in a creative way and allow people to escape from the usual boring mainstream marketing. We are also gamers and this is why we played a bit with this announcement.

Once again, we apologize for any harm we might have caused and we do hope people will keep the essence of our message in mind: GOG is doing things differently than elsewhere and yes, Baldur’s Gate is finally back (with more great releases to come)! We are working hard to provide users with much fun, so do expect some great surprises until Christmas.”

ok you're somewhat forgiven for bring Baldur's gate but still that was a dumb move that quickly bit you in the ass

 

[StarBob]

Hell of a plan. You don't see it enough really. Free marketing is fantastic.

 

[Shakermaker]

GOG did the teleconference about their tomfoolery dressed as monks. "We have sinned", they declared. I kid you not.

They gained me as a customer. I really dig their sense of humor.

 

[Paulaner]

They gained me as a customer. I really dig their sense of humor.

Agreed. Reading the angry comments on their Facebook page I couldn't help but wonder: Jeez, sense of humor suddenly disappeared from planet Earth?
Way to go, GOG. Great games, cheap, fixed to run on new OSes and DRM-free!

 

[Stormy]

I dont see the problem, sounds like it did the job. Anyone that is upset needs to go out more.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

partly glad they're not shutting and they have a sense of humour but i still feel used

 

[Stigmata]

This Sunday, GOG.com disappeared, replaced with a vague message from its creators about the website’s closure. It read, in part, that “GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form.”

Tomorrow, the site will re-launch, out of beta with some new features and some new games

I like the cut of their jib.

 

[CptStern]

I dont see the problem, sounds like it did the job. Anyone that is upset needs to go out more.

existing customers, some in mid download panicked thinking the games they still hadnt downloaded were going to disappear

 

[Warped]

I posted on the Facebook page that they are the biggest Trolls of the Internet, its really true

 

[Gargantou]

I'm glad they didn't go under, I need to buy SHOGO from them!

 

[Stigmata]

I'm glad they didn't go under, I need to buy SHOGO from them!

I was just thinking of Shogo yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, trying desperately to remember the name. I loved that game.

 

[Paulaner]

I posted on the Facebook page that they are the biggest Trolls of the Internet, its really true

The biggest troll of the Internet is Gabe Newell. The Gog guys come second

 

[Stigmata]

The biggest troll of the Internet is Gabe Newell. The Gog guys come second

Do you not want Episode 3 to be released, or what?

 

[Paulaner]

Do you not want Episode 3 to be released, or what?

Let me think. Umh, yes, I have faint memories of a Half-something...

 

[Ennui]

I'm slightly irritated but the way they've handled the backlash satisfies me. Also I ****ing LOVE the first Baldur's Gate.

 

[StardogChampion]

I had never heard of them until the forum thread here, so I guess it worked.

 

[VictimOfScience]

I am going to buy the living **** out of Baldur's Gate. No more fiddling with extra downloads to get it running nicely with no disks. AWESOME. Can't wait to see what other D&D titles they will have!!

 

[StarBob]

I had never heard of them until the forum thread here, so I guess it worked.

Same here. I plan on looking through and seeing what they have. I never played Baldur's Gate so I might check that out. Maybe see if they have Giants Citizen Kabuto because that game was awesome.

 

[Kyorisu]

Great PR for people who had never used GOG.com

Terrible PR for existing customers, you can bet they lose a quite a few people and feel the backlash of their little stunt for sometime. New customers will take their place no doubt but way to treat the people who made you what you are.

Love it.

 

[MJ12]

Hah, well it worked for me, now I know where to buy Baulder's Gate.

Never used their service. Do they have the Thief games by any chance?

 

[Deleted member 56031]

thief 1 and 2 would be good plus this is probably the best chance we have of getting system shock 1 and 2 or planescape torment

 

[MJ12]

I noticed it is a Polish company? Can Amerikans purchase stuff from them?

 

[Qonfused]

I had no idea this website existed. So good one on them.

 

[Shakermaker]

I noticed it is a Polish company? Can Amerikans purchase stuff from them?

Yessum.

 

[Paulaner]

Terrible PR for existing customers

Terrible PR for people who don't have some sense of humor, I must say. Look at those guys diguised as monks, chanting "we have sinned, forgive us". They remind me of the light side of Valve, and the way they mock their fan base from time to time, without being offensive. If people can't have a laugh from this, they have some serious problem.

 

[CptStern]

they were locked out of their games while the servers were down. people were understandably upset

 

[Paulaner]

they were locked out of their games while the servers were down. people were understandably upset

There is a countdown on the GoG site at this moment. We are still locked out. Come on, let's all sue GoG or ask for a refund...

 

[Shakermaker]

The site also has the monk video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNd4qbNTf8

This is so amateurish that it must be camp. Right?

 

[VictimOfScience]

This is so amateurish that it must be camp. Right?

Yeah. My favorite part is when someone walks nearby the shoot with heels on and you can hear them quite clearly. Transvestite monasteries are few and far between if my research is correct.

 

[Paulaner]

More exciting news:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZyKEkH_WXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TrXatKWqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ekoXGcqG5c

 

[VictimOfScience]

I seriously can't wait to buy Baldur's Gate tomorrow and a bunch of other titles. This stunt really made me realize how awesome these guys are (and how much I would miss them if they disappear) and the way they are revealing everything now is nothing short of awesome, so I will be glad to support them while they give me incredible no-hassle games.

 

[kupocake]

I think best way to compare this "strategy" is if sudenly heath ledger appeared saying he didnt die and was filminf a movie aobut some guy that pretends its death to start his life all over again and he faked his own death to "generate buzz"

This was basically a theory someone put out about Michael Jackson last year. That he was just promoting his UK tour or something insane. I always imagined that being said by the Team Fortress 2 Soldier. "See! He'll turn Red any minute now!"

 

[VictimOfScience]

On that note, it also brings to mind the 2+ year fall of Joaquin Phoenix that was just recently announced to be faked for the "documentary" that was just released, I'm Still Here. It chronicled his retirement from acting to move on to a rap career and meltdowns on stage and on Letterman, etc. Everyone was worried for him. Now that the movie is out, the cat is out of the bag. Man, him and Casey Affleck really had everyone going.

 

[Krynn72]

Marketing where they straight up lie to people in a serious matter (not like a satirical prank where its obvious) is lame. I've not been a customer of theirs (this is the first time I've heard of them, in fact) but I don't think I will be after these shenanigans either. Tasteless marketing strategies like this certainly didn't get any points from me.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Marketing where they straight up lie to people in a serious matter (not like a satirical prank where its obvious) is lame. I've not been a customer of theirs (this is the first time I've heard of them, in fact) but I don't think I will be after these shenanigans either. Tasteless marketing strategies like this certainly didn't get any points from me.

I generally think so too, but I thought they brought up a good point about them being a smaller company that had trouble getting coverage. If they straight up announced it, it wouldnt have gotten nearly as much publicity.

Besides, the way they worded it on their website simply implied things couldnt stay the way they were. Of course that has an obvious implication, but its not straight up lying.

 

[Barnz]

I hope they release System Shock 2, I can't find any good players to play it in the cooperative mode.

 

[kupocake]

I hope they release System Shock 2, I can't find any good players to play it in the cooperative mode.

As committed as they are to getting it working, I can't imagine they'd got to the trouble of implementing it. Wasn't it manual IP address stuff on one of the older protocols?

My only experience of the co-op game was that it bugged out as soon as we got to the first bulkhead. It's a very solo-experience anyway.

 

[Paulaner]

Marketing where they straight up lie to people in a serious matter (not like a satirical prank where its obvious) is lame. I've not been a customer of theirs (this is the first time I've heard of them, in fact) but I don't think I will be after these shenanigans either. Tasteless marketing strategies like this certainly didn't get any points from me.

Let's put a smile on that face.

 

[Bakurei]

Hot damn! I've avoided GoG like a plague, mostly because it has most of the games I want to play again, and they're cheap. Well one copy is cheap, but then you notice you just bought 200$ worth of games, "IT WAS ONLY 5,99!" My last argument was that they don't have Baldurs Gate... Curse you!

 

[Bad^Hat]

Maybe it's just me, but finding this amusing would seem to have little to do with "having a sense of humour" and more to do with letting them off the hook for being a smaller company who were desperate for exposure. Were this pulled by Steam or any of the other big DD platforms, I'm willing to bet people would be a mite less forgiving. This was a marketing stunt, pure and simple. It wasn't some elaborate hoax that the gaming populace was in on, it wasn't something good natured to show they're just "one of us," it was a cheap trick to make people take notice of their service and gain popularity. Did they succeed? Well, time will tell, but it would seem at least a few people were rubbed the wrong way by this, and I can't exactly blame them. However, the service itself is excellent and they really do deserve admiration for how they're running it, so I can't be too angry about this, regardless of how ****ing stupid it was.

Also, Baldur's Gate? Really? Somehow I wasn't aware it was in such demand...