From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
On Mon, 8 Dec 2025 17:35:45 -0700, "rms" <
rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/delisting_the_outer_worlds_ancestors_the_humankind_odyssey
To be fair, this isn't a decision by GOG, but a choice by the
publisher. It probably has to do with the licensing, possibly between
publisher and developer. Often the publisher will only have the rights
to sell a game for a certain number of years before the rights revert,
after which its up to the developer to decide which store fronts the
game will be sold on.
(It could also have to do with any licensed material used in the game
--for instance, if there were modern songs used in the soundtrack, or
if the game is based on a licensed property-- and when that expires
the rights have to be re-negotiated. But until that happens the game
is off the shelf.
Similarly, the industry has been going through a lot of mergers and acquisitions. In this case, the new owner would have to re-negotiate
the contract between it and the storefront... or might just decide to
sell it on their own storefront).
GOG is probably being singled out because it's a European merchant
while the publishers are US-based, which adds an extra level of
complexity that may take longer to work around. But I wouldn't be
entirely surprised if we see a similar removal from Steam too once
that contract expires.
The TL;DR is that these games will probably only have a brief hiatus
on GOG before coming back.
That said... I can't get too excited about this loss. Mostly because (naturally) I have the games already, but also because I didn't really
enjoy either game.
Still, given that GOG is trying to set itself up as the place where
older games are forever preserved, this isn't a good look.
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