CD Projekt Founder Buys GOG, Promising Stability And Few Changes

GOG has just been acquired by its original co-founder, Michał Kiciński, and in an industry where acquisitions usually signal disruption, consolidation, or slow erosion of consumer-friendly policies, the most notable thing about this one is just how little is expected to change about the GOG user experience. To be clear, that's not a complaint; it's exactly the point.

According to GOG's announcement, Kiciński has purchased the storefront from CD Projekt and will operate it as an independent company continuing its long-standing mission: DRM-free games, offline installers, and long-term preservation. GOG remains operationally independent, CD Projekt titles will continue to release on the platform, and existing user libraries, accounts, and policies remain untouched. As a user, nothing changes.

If that sounds underwhelming, it's because GOG's value has always been in what it doesn't do. It doesn't require a launcher, it doesn't revoke access when licenses expire, and it doesn't treat ownership as a subscription perk. In a PC ecosystem increasingly built around closed platforms and live-service dependency, GOG's philosophy has become radical, and we quietly treasure the service's dedication to DRM-free gaming.

Kiciński's involvement is significant precisely because of his history. He was one of the original architects of GOG back in 2007, back when it was short for "Good Old Games," and when its mission was simple but ambitious: preserve classic PC games and make them playable again without DRM. That idea later expanded to modern releases, but the core principle that "buying a game should mean owning it" has never wavered, even now. It still stands in stark contrast to Steam and other services that explicitly tell you "buying isn't owning."

From that perspective, this acquisition looks less like a corporate reshuffle and more like a course correction. CD Projekt has spent the past several years focused on AAA production and franchise expansion. GOG, meanwhile, is a slow, preservation-oriented business that doesn't align cleanly with blockbuster economics. Spinning it off allows both to do what they're best at without pulling in opposite directions. It also insulates GOG from any potential disasters affecting CD Projekt.


Still, there's no reason to be naive about this; potential downsides do exist. The biggest risk is concentration. GOG is now effectively stewarded by a single individual, however well-intentioned. That creates a clear point of failure. If his priorities change, if his funding dries up, or if leadership shifts, there's no institutional guarantee that GOG's consumer-first philosophy survives intact. This isn't a foundation or a public trust; it's a private company with a benevolent owner.

That said, all of the alternatives would likely have been worse. A sale to a large publisher, a rival platform holder, or a private equity group would almost certainly have resulted in DRM, account lock-in, or gradual erosion of offline access. Against that backdrop, a founder reclaiming stewardship looks like the least-worst outcome by a very wide margin. GOG's doing well financially, too, at least according to the company's FAQ about the acquisition.

More importantly, GOG's continued existence still matters. It remains one of the only major storefronts treating game preservation as a core mission rather than a marketing bullet point. Its work keeping older titles compatible, legally available, and free of digital handcuffs fills a gap no one else seems interested in addressing.

So yes, almost nothing is changing with today's announcement, and in a medium where ownership is increasingly abstract, and access increasingly conditional, that stability is worth celebrating. The present of PC gaming needs caretakers, and GOG is still one of the few places carrying that torch. For now, at least, it looks like the flame is in steady hands.