On December 29, 2025, CD PROJEKT announced it had sold 100% of GOG to co-founder Michał Kiciński for PLN 90.7 million – reported as roughly €21 million by GamesMarket and confirmed at $25.2 million in Tech Insider’s coverage of the transaction. Six months later, the ripple effects are reshaping how the PC gaming industry thinks about ownership, digital rights management, and the long-term viability of DRM-free distribution. For 27,100 people who search “gog games” every month, the question is simple: will GOG survive, and what does going independent mean in practice?
The short answer is that GOG is not merely surviving – it is doubling down. Under Kiciński’s ownership, the platform has committed to expanding its DRM-free catalog, looking more closely at Linux support, and launching new community initiatives in 2026. But competing against Steam’s 74% market share and Epic Games Store’s billion-dollar exclusive deals is a different problem. This analysis breaks down every angle of the GOG independence story and what it means for players, developers, and the future of digital game ownership.
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What Just Happened: The $25.2M Buyout That Kept GOG Independent
The transaction closed on December 29, 2025, after months of internal deliberation at CD PROJEKT’s Warsaw headquarters, though CD PROJEKT’s own 2025 wrap-up report – and a March 2026 confirmation from PAP Biznes – books the finalized sale as of December 31, 2025, for the year-end accounting period. Michał Kiciński purchased 100% of the shares in GOG sp. z o.o. – the legal entity that operates the GOG platform – through financing secured at closing, for the same PLN 90.7 million figure across both dates. Crucially, the deal did not require Kiciński to sell any of his existing CD PROJEKT shares, which made it a clean separation rather than a fire sale. GoodGame Advisors LLC served as financial advisor to CD PROJEKT for the transaction. Shattered.io independently confirmed the closed deal left GOG wholly owned by co-founder Michał Kiciński, while GamesIndustry.biz reported the seller received over $25 million for the platform – broadly consistent with the official PLN 90.7 million price tag.
The acquisition also came with a distribution agreement ensuring CD PROJEKT RED games will continue to appear on GOG, including future titles. For players who built their library around Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher series, that continuity paid off again during GOG’s Spring Sale 2026, which DealNews reported cut prices by up to 95% and, per GOGJ’s March 2026 coverage, discounted more than 8,000 titles before wrapping up on April 3, 2026 according to GOG.com forum threads – with Cyberpunk 2077 itself landing at -65% off. Cyberpunk 2077 had been available on GOG since launch, and the Witcher franchise remains one of the platform’s flagship DRM-free offerings.
“GOG will remain independent in its operations,” the platform’s official announcement read. “We will continue building a platform that’s ethical, non-predatory, and made to last, while helping indie developers reach the world. We’re also committed to giving the community a stronger voice, with new initiatives planned for 2026.” That statement has since guided every public communication from the newly independent company.
Who Is Michał Kiciński – and Why Does It Matter?
Michał Kiciński is not an outside investor or a private equity buyer looking to extract value from a struggling platform. He is one of the two men who founded CD PROJEKT in 1994 and co-created GOG in 2008. That provenance matters because it shapes every strategic decision he is likely to make as the new sole owner.
Kiciński remained a major shareholder at CD PROJEKT even while the company evolved from a game retailer to the studio behind The Witcher franchise and Cyberpunk 2077. His decision to acquire GOG rather than let it be sold to an outside buyer signals a philosophical commitment: he believes the DRM-free model is worth preserving even when it competes poorly on raw scale against Steam’s 132 million daily active users.
In the acquisition FAQ, GOG described Kiciński’s rationale in his own framing: “In a PC market that keeps moving toward mandatory clients and closed ecosystems, he believes GOG’s approach is more relevant than ever: no lock-in, no forced platforms, sense of ownership.” That language – “no lock-in, no forced platforms” – positions GOG not just against Steam but against the entire direction PC gaming has been moving, from mandatory online activation to subscription-only access models like Game Pass.
“In a PC market that keeps moving toward mandatory clients and closed ecosystems, Kiciński believes GOG’s approach is more relevant than ever: no lock-in, no forced platforms, sense of ownership.”
– GOG official acquisition FAQ, December 2025
Why CD PROJEKT Sold – Strategic Focus or Revenue Pressure?
CD PROJEKT has been direct about why it let GOG go. The studio’s official statement said the sale lets it “focus 100% of our energy on what we do best: telling captivating stories through our games and expanding our IPs with new, high-quality projects.” That framing points to strategic focus over financial distress – and the PLN 90.7 million price supports that reading. CD PROJEKT’s own Q3 2025 results showed GOG generating PLN 48.9 million in the July–September 2025 quarter, about 14% of total company revenue, while GamesIndustry.biz reported the division swung to a PLN 1.7 million net profit that quarter after a prior PLN 4.8 million loss – figures Game World Observer separately estimated at roughly $13.6 million in quarterly revenue. The full-year picture, reported by PAP Biznes and Quartr in March 2026, reinforced that reading: CD PROJEKT’s FY2025 consolidated net profit reached PLN 595 million, up 34% year-over-year versus 2024, boosted by a PLN 74 million after-tax gain the GOG sale booked as discontinued operations, while Q4 2025 revenue with the divested GOG business stripped out still came in at PLN 208.4 million. A truly distressed asset sale would not have commanded that valuation, let alone padded a record profit year.
The timing also reflects industry realities. CD PROJEKT has been rebuilding its reputation since the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. The Cyberpunk 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty expansion restored player trust, and The Witcher 4 (Polaris) is in full development. Running a gaming storefront while simultaneously developing two major AAA franchises is an operational stretch that does not fit every studio. By divesting GOG, CD PROJEKT narrows its operational scope precisely when it needs to execute cleanly on its core development pipeline.
Reddit analysis from the linux_gaming community noted that “Kiciński invested approximately $25 million for the share of GOG that he did not previously own” – suggesting he may have already held some equity in the entity. That framing implies the effective purchase was a consolidation of existing interest rather than a cold acquisition, which further explains why the transition was smooth and the strategic commitments remained intact.
What GOG’s Independence Means for Players
For the 258,000 people who search for GOG games every month, the practical question is whether their existing library and purchasing habits change. According to GOG’s own announcement: nothing changes. Accounts remain GOG accounts. Offline installers remain available. GOG GALAXY remains optional – Uptodown listed the Windows client at build 2.0.83.4 as of September 1, 2026, confirming the optional client is still receiving active updates. The 30-day refund policy continues. DRM-free status on purchased games is unaffected.
The more interesting question is what improves. GOG says it plans new initiatives in 2026 to give the community a stronger voice – likely to include expanded Dreamlist voting, which already allows players to advocate for games they want added to the catalog. The platform also committed to continued investment in its Preservation Program, with funds donated by patrons staying within GOG rather than flowing back to CD PROJEKT.
GOG also explicitly stated that it is “stable and has had a really encouraging year,” pointing to growing enthusiasm from gamers toward its mission. Tech Insider’s own tracking shows search interest in GOG games grew 36% year-over-year through April 2026, reaching 258,000 monthly searches – a metric that correlates strongly with platform awareness and acquisition intent even if GOG does not publish its own monthly active user figures.
The DRM-Free Battlefield: How GOG Stacks Up in 2026
The PC gaming storefront landscape in 2026 is more crowded than at any point in the platform’s history, yet also more consolidated. Steam maintains its dominant position at roughly 74% market share by revenue, supported by 132 million daily active users, a mature social graph, and Proton compatibility that increasingly makes Linux a viable gaming platform even for Windows-native titles. Epic Games Store holds approximately 3% of the market but has spent billions on exclusives and free weekly games to build a 250 million account base.
GOG occupies a different position entirely. Historical data from CD PROJEKT’s mid-2021 reports puts the GOG catalog at 5,200+ items, and the platform has kept adding titles since – the March 2026 Spring Sale discount sheet alone ranged from Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition at -63% to King of Fighters XIV at -85%, per listings on the GOG.com forums – focusing on AA and AAA games rather than indiscriminate indie volume. A Reddit community analysis noted that GOG has “explicitly stated their preference against additional indie titles, having turned down numerous submissions, to attract larger AA and AAA games that can generate a greater user base and revenue.”
| Platform | Est. Market Share (Revenue) | Active Users | DRM-Free | Client Required | Revenue Cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam (Valve) | ~74% | 132M DAU | No | Yes (mandatory) | 30% |
| Epic Games Store | ~3% | 250M accounts | No | Yes (mandatory) | 12% |
| GOG | ~2-3% | Not published | Yes (all titles) | No (optional Galaxy) | 30% |
| Xbox / Microsoft Store | ~8% | 34M Game Pass | No | Yes | 12-30% |
| PlayStation Store | ~9% | 93M PS5 units | No | Yes | 30% |
GOG’s competitive positioning has historically rested on one core argument: you actually own what you buy. According to one historical revenue comparison, GOG generated approximately 14.5% as much revenue as Steam in its strongest comparative period – a small but meaningful fraction that sustains a viable business. A GOG forum post citing internal company figures put full-year 2025 sales revenue at roughly $50.4 million, with gross profit of about $15.2 million after paying developers and publishers an average 73% cut of sales, and a net profit of just $1.3 million – a thin 2.6% net margin that underscores how tight the business remains even as it turns a profit. Tech Insider’s own June 2026 analysis pegs GOG’s slice of the PC storefront market at roughly 2–3% of revenue, still charging developers the same 30% cut as Steam. Under Kiciński’s ownership, the thesis is that the growing discomfort with digital ownership erosion, platform shutdowns, and forced-launcher ecosystems creates a larger addressable market for GOG than that historical ratio suggests.
The Freedom To Buy Initiative: GOG Took a Stand
One of the most significant pre-acquisition events at GOG was the Freedom To Buy initiative in August 2025. The catalyst was a series of game removals from Steam and itch.io under pressure from payment processors Visa and Mastercard, who applied restrictions on platforms distributing adult content. Rather than quietly benefit from rivals’ departures, GOG launched a coordinated response: it partnered with other publishers to offer a bundle of 13 adult-content games free for 48 hours, explicitly framing it as “taking a stand against the quiet erasure of creative works from digital shelves.”
The Freedom To Buy initiative was remarkable because it was not passive positioning – it was active, confrontational advocacy for the principle that games, once sold, should remain accessible. The move aligned perfectly with GOG’s DRM-free identity and drew significant media attention, reinforcing the platform’s reputation among developers and players who had grown frustrated with the increasing power of payment networks over content availability.
“DRM-free is more central to GOG than ever. Your library stays yours to enjoy: same access, same offline installers, same sense of ownership.”
– GOG official blog, December 2025
That context makes the subsequent December 2025 ownership change more coherent as a sequence of events. Freedom To Buy demonstrated that GOG was willing to make principled decisions that might cost short-term revenue in exchange for long-term credibility. The sale to Kiciński a few months later reinforced that the platform’s new ownership shares the same values – and has the financial means to sustain them independently.
GOG’s Linux Push: A 2026 Platform Priority
The Linux gaming ecosystem has grown substantially in parallel with the Steam Deck’s mainstream arrival. GamingOnLinux reported in January 2026 that GOG plans to “look a bit closer at Linux through 2026”, a cautious but notable commitment from a platform that had previously listed Linux Galaxy support as “not a priority” in its FAQ and eventually removed the mention entirely.
The strategic logic is sound. Linux’s growth as a gaming platform is no longer theoretical. Valve’s Proton compatibility layer handles thousands of Windows-native Steam titles, and the success of the Steam Deck has created hardware demand that keeps improving Linux driver and compatibility ecosystems. For GOG, the DRM-free offline-installer model is actually more compatible with Linux than most competitors – you can download a GOG installer, run it through Wine or a compatibility wrapper, and play without an always-online check. The friction is installation friction, not DRM friction.
A stronger official Linux support commitment from GOG would accelerate adoption among the Steam Deck community, who already use tools like Heroic Games Launcher to access GOG titles on Linux without the official Galaxy client. Cloud streaming is already filling part of that gap – as of July 23, 2026, NVIDIA listed Baldur’s Gate 3 among the GOG titles playable on GeForce NOW, letting Linux users stream GOG purchases without any native client at all. If GOG releases an officially supported Linux client, it would remove the final barrier for the estimated 2.4% of Steam users (approximately 3.17 million people based on Steam’s monthly active user base) who already game on Linux.
Game Preservation: 5D Crystal Storage and the Dreamlist
Game preservation is where GOG most clearly differentiates itself from every other PC storefront. In October 2025, GOG partnered with SPhotonix – a company developing long-term optical data storage technology – to preserve Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete using 5D memory crystal technology. The technology encodes data using femtosecond laser pulses in fused quartz, achieving theoretical data stability measured in billions of years. While no storage medium needs to last that long for gaming purposes, the partnership was a statement of intent about how seriously GOG takes its “Make Games Live Forever” mission.
The Dreamlist feature, launched in late 2024 and still active in 2026, allows community members to vote for games they want to see added to the GOG catalog – either new releases or classic titles that need to be revived, remastered, or relicensed. GOG itself quantified the mechanism’s impact in February 2026, reporting that 312 games joined the catalog through Dreamlist voting during 2025 alone. The Dreamlist serves as both a product-discovery tool for GOG’s business development team and a public signal of community demand to rights holders who might otherwise deprioritize older titles.
GOG also introduced One-Click Mod support in June 2025, allowing players to download and install curated mods for select titles they already own on the platform. This is a meaningful feature parity improvement against Steam Workshop, which has long been Steam’s most compelling platform-side feature for moddable games. GOG’s version is more curated and limited in scope, but its presence signals the platform is investing in features beyond its core DRM-free identity.
Market Impact: Platform Competition After the Sale
The most immediate market impact of GOG’s independence is what it signals about the durability of non-Steam PC distribution. For most of the past decade, the conventional wisdom was that Steam’s network effects – its social graph, achievement system, trading card economy, and Workshop ecosystem – made any serious competition structurally difficult. Epic proved that exclusives and free games could carve out market share, but at a cost of billions in first-party funding that a smaller platform cannot match.
GOG’s survival under independent ownership suggests a different thesis: niche platforms can remain viable indefinitely if they serve a specific user need better than the dominant platform. The digital ownership community is large enough, and passionate enough, to support a major storefront. The question is whether that community grows as mainstream awareness of digital ownership risks increases.
| Event | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| GOG founded as Good Old Games | February 2008 | DRM-free model launched for classic PC games |
| GOG catalog reaches 5,200+ titles | September 2021 | Largest DRM-free catalog milestone |
| One-Click Mod support launched | June 2025 | First direct feature parity with Steam Workshop |
| Freedom To Buy initiative | August 2025 | Response to Visa/Mastercard platform pressure on adult titles |
| SPhotonix 5D crystal partnership | October 2025 | Preservation of Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete |
| Michał Kiciński acquires GOG | December 29, 2025 | PLN 90.7M (~$25.2M) sale; independence confirmed |
| GOG Linux expansion plans announced | January 2026 | GamingOnLinux confirms 2026 Linux support review |
| Search interest grows 36% YoY | April 2026 | 258K monthly searches; accelerating platform awareness |
For developers, the GOG independence story raises two questions. First: does the platform remain a viable distribution channel worth supporting? The answer appears to be yes – GOG’s stability and growth metrics support continued investment in GOG builds. Second: does independent ownership change the business relationship? The distribution agreement with CD PROJEKT ensures continuity for one of GOG’s most important publishing relationships, and the platform’s stated commitment to helping indie developers reach players suggests active outreach will continue.
What Analysts and Observers Say
Industry observers have largely interpreted the GOG sale positively, though with measured expectations. Game Developer magazine noted that Kiciński “has a desire to preserve and grow the original philosophy behind the platform,” framing the acquisition as an ideological commitment rather than a financial play. The publication also highlighted the distribution agreement with CD PROJEKT as evidence that the sale was “collaborative rather than adversarial.”
Acer’s technology blog offered a more cautious read: “The main concern would be slow, gradual compromises rather than sudden changes. However, given the new ownership structure and public commitments, there is currently little evidence that GOG is moving away from its core values.” That framing – watching for gradual erosion rather than acute collapse – is the appropriate analytical lens for a platform whose differentiation is built on long-term promises about ownership.
“For the major digital game distributors, GOG’s star is clearly rising. Even under direct competition, GOG generated 14.5 percent as much revenue as Steam. Steam enjoys a captive market of ardent loyalists, but GOG is swiftly becoming an attractive alternative.”
– Analyst commentary on GOG market position (cited in Wikipedia)
The 36% year-over-year growth in GOG-related search interest through April 2026, as tracked by Tech Insider, is the kind of metric that suggests organic momentum rather than paid acquisition. For a platform competing against Steam’s brand ubiquity, growing search intent without proportional marketing spend is a strong signal that word-of-mouth and the DRM-free value proposition are driving discovery.
Managing Director Maciej Gołębiewski, who oversees day-to-day operations at GOG’s Warsaw headquarters, has maintained a consistent message through the transition: the platform’s mission, team, and operational model are unchanged. Gołębiewski’s tenure predates the sale, providing institutional continuity that matters for a platform where trust is the primary product.
The Payment Processor Problem: GOG’s Structural Advantage
The Freedom To Buy initiative in August 2025 exposed something important about the structural vulnerability of platforms that rely on Visa and Mastercard infrastructure for payment processing. Steam and itch.io both made content decisions under payment processor pressure – decisions that removed games from storefronts regardless of their legal status in the jurisdictions where users purchased them.
GOG’s DRM-free model offers a partial hedge against this risk. Once a game is purchased and downloaded as an offline installer, payment processor pressure cannot remove it from a user’s device or revoke access. The game is locally owned. This structural feature – often discussed in abstract ownership terms – proved relevant in real market conditions in 2025, and it will likely remain relevant as payment infrastructure continues to intersect with content moderation in ways that platform operators cannot fully control.
For developers releasing titles on GOG, the platform’s response during the Freedom To Buy episode demonstrated a willingness to take public positions that protect creative works. That reputation has value with developers who create content at the edges of what major platforms will carry – not exclusively adult content, but any title that might be caught in payment processor cross-fire as norms continue to shift.
Related Coverage
More on PC Gaming Platforms and Game Stores
- Steam vs GOG 2026: 30% Revenue Cut vs DRM-Free Ownership Compared
- Steam vs Epic Games Store 2026: 74% vs 3% Market Share Tested
- Heroic Games Launcher Setup 2026: Play Epic and GOG Games on Linux
- Steam Summer Sale 2026: June 25-July 9, $876M GMV
- Valve Steam Antitrust: $6B Revenue Cut Case Heads to Trial
- Epic vs. Google: How the Play Store Ruling Changes PC Game Distribution
5 Predictions for GOG Under Independent Ownership
1. GOG will launch a Linux-native Galaxy client by end of 2026. The “looking more closely at Linux” commitment from January 2026, combined with the Steam Deck’s market success and growing Heroic Games Launcher user base, creates both the pressure and the template for an official Linux client. The infrastructure groundwork is laid; an official release is the logical next step.
2. GOG will announce at least one major new publisher partnership in 2026. Independent ownership gives GOG more negotiating flexibility on deal terms than CD PROJEKT’s corporate governance allowed. Expect an announcement targeting publishers who have historically held back catalog titles from DRM-free distribution.
3. The Freedom To Buy initiative will expand into a permanent policy. Rather than a one-time response, GOG will formalize its stance on content availability into a publisher-facing commitment – essentially guaranteeing that games listed on GOG will not be removed under payment processor pressure, even if that requires alternative payment infrastructure.
4. GOG’s catalog will keep climbing past the 8,000-title mark it already reached in early 2026. GOGJ’s March 2026 reporting on the Spring Sale confirmed more than 8,000 titles were discounted platform-wide, meaning the original 7,000-title, end-of-2026 target has already been cleared well ahead of schedule. The Dreamlist mechanism provides a structured pipeline for rights-holder negotiations, and independent ownership removes the approval layer that existed when GOG was a CD PROJEKT subsidiary. Catalog growth is the most straightforward lever for increasing platform revenue.
5. GOG will disclose user metrics publicly for the first time. As an independent company with external credibility to build, GOG has incentive to publish user numbers that validate its market position. A public MAU figure – even a conservative one – would provide the business legitimacy the platform needs to compete for developer mindshare.
FAQ: GOG Independence Explained
Does my GOG library transfer if GOG shuts down?
GOG provides offline installers for every purchased title, meaning your games are locally stored on your device and do not require GOG’s servers to remain playable. This is the core DRM-free guarantee: even if GOG’s storefront closed tomorrow, your installers would continue to work indefinitely on any compatible hardware.
Is GOG Galaxy mandatory after the ownership change?
No. GOG Galaxy remains entirely optional, and development hasn’t slowed under the new ownership – Shattered tracked the Windows client at build 2.1.7.22 in late July 2026, and by September 30, 2026, Uptodown listed the newest build at 2.1.10.56, underscoring a steady monthly release cadence. You can purchase, download, and play GOG games without ever installing the Galaxy client. The optional client adds social features, cross-platform library integration (including Steam and Xbox), and automatic update management, but the platform functions fully without it.
Will CD PROJEKT RED games still come to GOG?
Yes. The distribution agreement signed alongside the December 2025 acquisition explicitly confirms that CD PROJEKT RED’s existing catalog and upcoming titles will continue to be available on GOG. This includes The Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077, and any future releases from the studio.
How much did Michał Kiciński pay for GOG?
The official purchase price was PLN 90.7 million, equivalent to approximately $25.2 million USD at December 2025 exchange rates, according to How-To Geek’s reporting on the transaction. CD PROJEKT’s announcement confirmed the financing was secured at closing without Kiciński selling any CD PROJEKT shares.
Does the ownership change affect GOG’s refund policy?
No. GOG’s 30-day refund policy remains in place and was explicitly confirmed as unchanged in the December 2025 acquisition announcement. Player accounts, purchase history, and wallet funds are unaffected by the ownership transition.
How does GOG’s developer revenue cut compare to Steam?
GOG and Steam both charge developers a 30% platform fee. This puts GOG at a disadvantage versus Epic Games Store’s 12% cut for games that do not use the Unreal Engine, but aligns it with the industry standard for most titles. GOG’s value proposition to developers is access to a highly engaged, purchase-intent audience that actively prefers DRM-free platforms.
What is the GOG Dreamlist?
The Dreamlist is a community feature on GOG’s website where players can vote for games they want to see added to the GOG catalog – either new releases or classic titles that need to be revived or relicensed. It functions as both a product discovery tool and a public signal of demand to rights holders who might otherwise deprioritize older games.
For more on how digital PC game stores compare on revenue models, ownership rights, and feature sets, see our Steam vs GOG 2026 comparison and the 2026 gaming platform guide.
