CD Projekt Red are splitting from GOG somehow? (lemm.ee)

submitted 9 months ago by TWeaK@lemm.ee to c/games@lemmy.world

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Just had the following email from GOG about account migration for CD Projekt Red games, not quite sure what to make of it. Don't CDPR own GOG? Why do they need to be separated? What does this mean for the long term future of the services?

MIGRATION OF CD PROJEKT RED ONLINE SERVICES

Dear [user],

You are receiving this email due to your use of online features, including Cross Progression and My Rewards, in CD PROJEKT RED games, as well as your participation in platforms like the CD PROJEKT RED Forums. We are migrating these products to a new account system, owned and operated by CD PROJEKT S.A., effective from March 5th, 2024. This consolidation will involve the transfer of governance of your personal data, including your email address and username, from the GOG account system to the CD PROJEKT RED account system.

What does this change?

Starting March 5th, 2024, the above mentioned online features and services will be available through a new CD PROJEKT RED account system.

Do I need to take any action?

No, a new CD PROJEKT RED account will be created for you automatically based on your GOG Account information: user ID, username and email address. This will allow you to continue using features provided by CD PROJEKT RED with no interruption. No action is required on your end.

How can I log in after the migration?

Your new account will use the same email address as your GOG Account. If you’re already logged into any of our games, you will stay logged in when the account change takes place.

What happens to my personal data?

Upon migration, CD PROJEKT S.A. will become a data controller of your personal data connected with CD PROJEKT RED account. Transfer of data will be based on a legitimate interest in ensuring continuity of CD PROJEKT RED online services. For more information see updated CD PROJEKT S.A. Privacy Policy available here.

How does this affect my current GOG account?

Your GOG account and all your GOG purchases remain unaffected. The GOG.com website and the GOG Galaxy app will continue to use the GOG account system. Your GOG account will be separate from your CD PROJEKT RED account.

Can I opt out?

If you do not wish to have a CD PROJEKT RED account created for you, you may opt out of the account creation process by clicking this link. After the account system migration, you will be able to delete your account with the same link.

If you choose to opt out, please note that on March 5th, 2024 you will lose access to Cross Progression, My Rewards, and RED Forums, and all connected data will be permanently deleted.

You can create a new CD PROJEKT RED account at any time.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please visit our support page.

Warm Regards,

GOG and CD PROJEKT RED Teams

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[-] MrHandyMan@lemmy.world 50 points 9 months ago

My guess is that they just want to separate GOG and their game accounts from each other because they are easier to manage that way. I think in legal sense GOG is still a separate corporate entity even though it's owned by CD Projekt.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -1 points 9 months ago

According to Wikipedia, GOG sp. z o.o. is still a subsidiary of CD PROJEKT S.A.

They are legally separate entities, but why should that affect customers? Why are CDPR games no longer being sold on the GOG store? This almost would be like if Valve stopped selling Half Life on Steam.

I don't think it has anything to do with being "easier to manage". I think the corporate structure is purely for financial reasons. Valve never spun up a second business for Steam.

I also suspect it has something to do with the fact that GOG is a staunchly DRM free platform. It sounds like either CDPR want to sell games with DRM (which means future titles similar to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Baldur's Gate 3 would no longer have a DRM-free option, as CDPR would simply have them on their main store rather than GOG), or CDPR want to include DRM in their own games.

[-] doctorzeromd@sopuli.xyz 23 points 9 months ago

Where are you seeing anything saying that CD project red games won't be sold on the GOG store?

[+] TWeaK@lemm.ee -9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Maybe they will be, but "a new account system" sounds to me like a new service, ie a new launcher, and these days launchers are also storefronts.

[-] picnicolas@slrpnk.net 12 points 9 months ago

I understand your concern based on how corporations tend to run these days, but this is a lot of speculation. It’s good to be skeptical though.

My guess is that they want to use a single account across more services unrelated to GOG, akin to the way google SSO works for gmail, YouTube, drive, etc. If the account is owned by a subsidiary that might not be possible for other subsidiaries to use the same account per data regulation rules.

[-] doctorzeromd@sopuli.xyz 4 points 9 months ago

I don't see any reason to believe that it would be different from the rockstar launcher. You can still buy rockstar games from steam.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -5 points 9 months ago

Their games might end up on both, but when it comes to a new 3rd party game being put on CDPR store with DRM or GOG store without DRM, which do you think will happen? Long term, do you think GOG would survive if CDPR shift their focus to another store?

It's not really the same as Rockstar Launcher and Steam, because Rockstar don't own Steam.

[-] 9point6@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

This is probably more the opposite way round than you're thinking of it.

A CDPR launcher can be bundled with steam games, perhaps they have tried and been stopped from bundling GoG with CDPR games.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -4 points 9 months ago

Possibly. However, that still doesn't really fit in with the way CDPR have worked up to now.

Since Cyberpunk 2077 their behaviour has changed.

[-] MrHandyMan@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They are legally separate entities, but why should that affect customers?

Because they are not doing it because of customers, they are more likely doing it for themselves. It's easier to manage things on a corporate level when the data is also separated similarly as their companies are.

[-] HKayn@dormi.zone 3 points 9 months ago

Why are CDPR games no longer being sold on the GOG store?

What are you taking about? Where in that email did you get the idea that that was going to happen?

You are confusing CD Projekt with CD Projekt Red.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -2 points 9 months ago

I'm not confusing anything here. For clarity, CPD is the parent company, CDPR is a department within the parent company that develops games. The two are basically synonymous.

What I'm doing is inferring that their statement "online services including..." is in no way an exhaustive list, and directly implies that other things are migrating also. Furthermore, when I logged into GOG Galaxy I could no longer shop for new games (not just CDPR games, but recent games from other publishers - only old titles were available), which further leant into the idea that games were being removed from the GOG store. I've since checked gog.com and they're still there, though.

In any case, even if it doesn't happen right away this move absolutely is a step towards CDPR games not being listed on the GOG store and potentially even coming with DRM.

I've created a support ticket with them asking for further details about the change.

[-] HKayn@dormi.zone 2 points 9 months ago

Sure man, whatever you want to believe.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago

Classy argument.

[-] fkn@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

GDPR and pii reasons most likely. It's a nightmare keeping track of why certain data is on certain accounts. This can vastly simplify the GDPR compliance mechanisms. If your GOG account is merged with your PR account, there is probably significantly more "sensitive" data (CC numbers, addresses, etc) in the GOG account. This probably exempts some data that either cdpr or gog tracks from deletion or retrieval requests.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -2 points 9 months ago

But it isn't a merger, it's a partial transfer. Your GOG account will still exist, but your CDPR games will be moved from GOG to CDPR.

Exactly what this means is unclear, the email and their online FAQ merely says "online features including Cross Progression and My Rewards as well as CDPR Forums" - it does not list everything that's being migrated. It could be that GOG will only sell old games, while new games will be on a separate store, or it could be just that achievements and cross-platform scores will be on CDPR while GOG continues as normal. It could also end up being a gradual change with GOG falling to the wayside, and new games (1st and 3rd party) only being sold on CDPR.

Also, GDPR is hardly a reason. GOG is a CDPR subsidiary, and both are based in Poland, which is in the EU. They're in the same jurisdiction. There's no real issue with GDPR, even if the two services were sharing data - GDPR allows this for the purpose of providing a service.

I've sent a support ticket to them asking for more information.

[-] fkn@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Separation of data between accounts makes them fall under different retrieval requirements.

As one account, a request for all of the data from that account contains both chunks. Separation of those accounts separates the need to accommodate requests for data from one on the other.

It can also mean that internally they may have a sufficient mechanism that data that was previously identifying to no longer being identifying (breaking userid to data pairings for example) which is sufficient to "anonymize" the data that it no longer needs to be reported or maintained.

[-] Dasnap@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The email I read was talking about cross progression and stuff, which goes outside of GOG. It probably makes more sense for a PS5 or Xbox player to create a CDP account than a GOG account in that context, although it's all still technically the same account anyway.

GOG and CDPR have always been different branches anyway. This just looks to be making the separation that's always existed a bit clearer.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -4 points 9 months ago

The text above mentions Cross Progression.

GOG and CDPR have always been different branches anyway.

They have and they haven't. CDPR used GOG's infrastructure, and CDPR own GOG, so this makes sense. You don't buy Valve games from the Valve store, you buy them from Steam.

Technically, I think GOG was originally started and owned by CDPR, then became GOG Ltd, and now it's GOG sp. z o.o. However, I think it's reasonable to be frustrated that the corporate restructuring (which is almost surely for their financial benefit) is affecting customers. I bought my games from GOG, because I like GOG, and I liked CDPR for making GOG and holding the same ideals.

According to Wikipedia, GOG sp. z o.o. is still a subsidiary of CD PROJEKT S.A.

What this seems to me is that CDPR no longer wish to sell their games on GOG, perhaps because GOG is staunchly DRM free. Does this mean CDPR are going to include DRM in future games? Or are they merely trying to expand the selection of titles they can sell on their storefront(s) to include those which refuse to be DRM free? Does this mean GOG is going to fall to the wayside, as they will no longer push for DRM free versions of major titles, instead referring them to the CDPR store?

I have DRM free versions of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Baldur's Gate 3. It would be sad if future games weren't available in this way.

[-] Delta_V@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

i wonder if that has anything to do with GoG having been down for a couple days - did they run into problems during the data migration?

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Is this why the site was down for maintenance almost all day the other day? I just wanted to log in and see if I owned a game on there or not and was getting time out errors most of the day. Tried in the evening and loaded to a message about extra maintenance because they were migrating to a new system (and still couldn't log in to check anything).

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Quite possibly. Edit: I'm also having difficulty shopping for any new games in GOG Galaxy, however they are still available on gog.com.

[-] solivine@sopuli.xyz 2 points 9 months ago

To me this sounded like cdpr merging more with gog not the other way round, as in both your accounts are now under one account?

[-] hoshikarakitaridia@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

Idk about that. They are literally saying they will replace gog account system with their own one. Sounds really specific to me.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee -2 points 9 months ago

No, GOG was the official store for CDPR (as GOG was created and is owned by CDPR), but now CDPR are splitting off, or something. So, for example, your achievements in games like Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 have been recorded in GOG, but will now be migrated to a separate CDPR service.

So it's not a merger, but a split, however to my knowledge the ownership structure of CDPR owning GOG will remain the same. It's just that they want to separate GOG from their own publisher business. What this means for GOG as a storefront seems uncertain - will GOG continue to sell all games, or will it go back to its original purpose of only old games? Will GOG continue to be DRM free? Will future CDPR games include DRM such as Denuvo? Will GOG eventually die off?

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Can they take your information and just put it into a new system legally?

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

Yes, if one company buys a part of another the data can be legally migrated. The data will also become subject to new the T&C's and privacy policy, although there must be an opt out before this happens (which they are providing here). This is more of a split I think, as far as I'm aware GOG are still owned by CDPR, it seems like they're setting up a new division for CDPR games, and maybe GOG is just going to focus on old titles.

For myself, I don't like this. I use unique emails for everything, and this spoils that setup. I don't want my GOG email to be anywhere near CDPR, and vice versa. However it seems like my only options are migrate the email to the wrong service, or lose all my online data.

I'm not too bothered if they're two separate services, beyond whatever that might mean for the continuation of the services. Eg, is GOG going to be worse than it is currently, or is CDPR looking to separate so they can be worse and more like a typical publisher.

[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Could you migrate the account then change the associated email? It's not a perfect solution but it should be possible.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago

Probably, I think I'm going to contacte them and get them to do that, while explicitly stating I object to my email being subject to the new terms and conditions.

[-] JohnFoe@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

It says you can create a new CDPR account at any time. Could you not do that and then migrate your GOG info over without the email address from GOG?

Just wondering if it had been attempted.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago

Maybe that might be an option, like if I create a CDPR account now and tell them to transfer to that account rather than migrate and then change emails. I'll give it a go.