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[Guri]

it's just an awful thing to do really. forcing a price and not selling keys to Amazon, GMG and others just is a a bad practice that hurt gamers like me. if they want to push their GoG platform let them do good offers that compete with other stores like what Steam and Origin do all the time, not allowing other stores to sell like usual is just very anti consumer behavior.

To be clear, GMG now sells the keys. It's just that they are GOG keys. But you can apparently get a 23% off discount.

 

[Almighty]

They want GOG to be the price leader for the game, and won’t play ball with retailers who would discount further than they’re willing to.

Seems that way based on the information we have to go off of.

CDPR is living down to my expectations yet again.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

It's not a CD key.

The software that is shipping on the original CD is not 100% complete. On release day, there will be a small patch that installs the required files.

So they're selling an incomplete physical game~

 

[DocSeuss]

As of now, I don't really know who is or is not as such! For starters this doesn't prove price-fixing anyway since for all we know, CDPR is selling keys to authorised retailers relatively close to that price so they have very little room to undercut while making a profit.

As far as we know, CDPR isn't selling keys to anyone. Aren't they currently only using Humble and Steam?

Humble and Steam aren't key resellers.

So they're selling an incomplete physical game~

Everyone does this now. The disc is most of the files, but not all of them. They do this to avoid pre-release piracy.

 

[Theonik]

...

Kind of a long story. Copyright law is inherently unfair and weird. It's a weird anticompetitive provision to 'creators' granted in a 'free-market' technically the copyright holder has exclusive rights to sell, distribute, and a number of other provisions that I'm pretty sure would allow them to sue them. They never would realistically because no-one gives a shit what a store selling 5 copies does, and the damage to the copyright holder's reputation would be HUGE.

 

[Yurikerr]

The retail copies are not published by CDPR, but by Namco. Therefore, they don't get as much profit as any digital version (30% only, if they follow the standard model).

Ok, but what does the amount of profit have to do with the list of places that the game is being sold?

If CDPR choose to block the selling of the digital copy by some legitimate stores just because they would receive a little less money they are just being greedy.

And besides, i think in the case of GMG, they receive a fixed amount for each key, regardless of the final price that the site choose to sell the game to the end user. If the store sell the key for less than they bought it's their profit that they are cutting.

They have all the right to say were their product will be available but that's not "pro-gamer" as they are acclaimed for.

 

[Devilgunman]

To summarize

- CDPR wanted to have full control of their distribution, refused to work with GMG. GMG pissed off.

- GMG said fuck you and went around a back alley, got keys from an undisclosed vender, eat up the cost and sell them at discount price.

This is a classic unauthorized seller undercutting the supply chain. Amazon received thousands of these kinds of complaint over years

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/23/us-amazon-sellers-idUSBRE89M1CT20121023

Sony did a very good job handling their unauthorized sellers (in this case, a company called Abe's) on Amazon

Sony ordered its own products from Abe's and had the items shipped to their offices. They then checked the product serial numbers and use that information to find out which wholesalers sold to Abe's.

"They then threatened to suspend the wholesalers and not sell product to them anymore,"

CDPR should do the same.

 

[Totobeni]

To be clear, GMG now sells the keys. It's just that they are GOG keys. But you can apparently get a 23% off discount.

I was going to buy from Amazon like usual (since I have some amazon gift cards and credits) but CDPR don't sell it on amazon digitally. now I might just get the PC retail version from Amazon.

 

[Wickerbasket]

To summarize

- CDPR wanted to have full control of their distribution, refused to work with GMG. GMG pissed off.

- GMG said fuck you and went around a back alley, got keys from an undisclosed vender, eat up the cost and sell them at discount price.

This is a classic unauthorized seller undercutting the supply chain. Amazon received thousands of these kinds of complaint over years

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/23/us-amazon-sellers-idUSBRE89M1CT20121023

Sony did a very good job handling their unauthorized sellers (in this case, a company called Abe's) on Amazon




CDPR should do the same.

Seems kind of anti-consumer. If a competitor wants to lose money on a deal to gain me as a customer, why shouldn't they be able to?

Why should they stop GMG from selling them for cheaper? They're still getting the full price off GMG if they're buying them from GOG.

 

[Guri]

Ok, but what does the amount of profit have to do with the list of places that the game is being sold?

If CDPR choose to block the selling of the digital copy by some legitimate stores just because they would receive a little less money they are just being greedy.

And besides, i think in the case of GMG, they receive a fixed amount for each key, regardless of the final price that the site choose to sell the game to the end user. If the store sell the key for less than they bought it's their profit that they are cutting.

They have all the right to say were their product will be available but that's not "pro-gamer" as they are acclaimed for.

We can safely assume that GMG isn't buying the retail copy and converting it to digital. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think GMG could resell The Witcher III keys from Origin or uPlay. That leaves us the nVidia keys and Humble.

And again, correct me if I'm wrong, but GMG could get only one nVidia key (since that's redeemable on GOG and there's no activation limits) and sell a bunch of copies without CDPR getting the money from it. The other option, if they went with nVidia keys, is that they would be VERY limited if only redeemable once.

If they can buy from Origin or uPlay, then there's the revenue share again. And no, this is not a company being greedy. Put yourself into that position. You want to sell your game. Will you go through the path you get more or less money?

This is all speculation and we cannot be sure unless GMG clears that up, but it can be weird.

EDIT: There's also Humble Store, sorry. In that case, it's 10% to charity. That could be the most likely option.

 

[Sijil]

Seems kind of anti-consumer. If a competitor wants to lose money on a deal to gain me as a customer, why shouldn't they be able to?

Why should they stop GMG from selling them for cheaper? They're still getting the full price off GMG if they're buying them from GOG.

I could say product depreciation perhaps. GMG selling cheaper than Steam, Origin, Uplay, GoG, Humble Bundle would force them to lower their price to match GMG or lower, a race to the bottom. Unlikely as it is but it might have crossed their minds.

The fact that Witcher 3 is back on GMG now, shows that it was about pricing not that GMG is a shady dealer.

 

[Devilgunman]

Seems kind of anti-consumer. If a competitor wants to lose money on a deal to gain me as a customer, why shouldn't they be able to?

Why should they stop GMG from selling them for cheaper? They're still getting the full price off GMG if they're buying them from GOG.

It's not solely about revenue from the game. It's about having control on their own product and expanding their distributing platform.

 

[hawk2025]

I could say product depreciation perhaps. GMG selling cheaper than Steam, Origin, Uplay, GoG, Humble Bundle would force them to lower their price to match GMG or lower, a race to the bottom. Unlikely as it is but it might have crossed their minds.

The fact that Witcher 3 is back on GMG now, shows that it was about pricing not that GMG is a shady dealer.

CDPR sets the price of the keys. They determine how far the "race to the bottom" can go.

The issue is that the usual discounting that GMG does by operating with razor thin margins affects CDPR more than other publishers, since they also own a digital sales platform where the proportional cut is bigger. The pricing of their product impacts the downwards competition in the retailer market, with witch they are vertically integrated.

This is a case of vertical integration impacting retailer negotiations.

That's how fair competition is supposed to work though; they're supposed to compete in price to attract consumers.

Fixing the price isn't very fair or legal.

It depends. In the US, retailer price maintenance is legal as of 2007. So at first brush, there is nothing illegal with a supplier wanting to control the retail price of its product.

However, the issue is complicated by the vertical integration with a retailer. Since they also control a retailer that is setting a price, the situation is exponentially more complicated. The leveraging of the vertical relationship to determine price paths in competition is still largely an open question in antitrust.

 

[Wickerbasket]

I could say product depreciation perhaps. GMG selling cheaper than Steam, Origin, Uplay, GoG, Humble Bundle would force them to lower their price to match GMG or lower, a race to the bottom. Unlikely as it is but it might have crossed their minds.

The fact that Witcher 3 is back on GMG now, shows that it was about pricing not that GMG is a shady dealer.

That's how fair competition is supposed to work though; they're supposed to compete in price to attract consumers.

Fixing the price isn't very fair or legal.

 

[Guri]

Another question: GMG sold The Witcher 2 at launch, correct? Was the price any different from other stores' prices before launch? If so, I can see what's wrong here. If not, then it's the same case, just that GMG wasn't authorized to sell the game until now.

 

[Ponn]

It's not solely about revenue from the game. It's about having control on their own product and expanding their distributing platform.

So companies trying to turn the open PC realm into a closed console environment of control or as close as they can. And consoles getting the lovely advantage of shipped buggy games that can be patched. Ah, that smell of progress.

 

[Sijil]

CDPR sets the price of the keys. They determine how far the "race to the bottom" can go.

The issue is that the usual discounting that GMG does by operating with razor thin margins affects CDPR more than other publishers, since they also own a digital sales platform where the proportional cut is bigger. The pricing of their product impacts the downwards competition in the retailer market, with witch they are vertically integrated.

This is a case of vertical integration impacting retailer negotiations.



It depends. In the US, retailer price maintenance is legal as of 2007. So at first brush, there is nothing illegal with a supplier wanting to control the retail price of its product.

However, the issue is complicated by the vertical integration with a retailer. Since they also control a retailer that is setting a price, the situation is exponentially more complicated. The leveraging of the vertical relationship to determine price paths in competition is still largely an open question in antitrust.

The weird thing is EA and Ubisoft, who are both in the same situation as CDPR, operating as a manufacturer with their own distribution service is that they never had this problem with GMG and GMG does sell Origin and Uplay keys and they also sell Valve games. GMG played ball with EA and Ubisoft if memory serves strange why the situation changed with CDPR.

 

[tuxfool]

This isn't about pre-loads it's about DRM in retail copies of the game in the form of a download.
Now I understand why the DRM is in place to prevent the game from leaking and I find it reasonable, that doesn't change this particular rhetoric though. (also it punishes early retail purchasers without internet connections)

Except after they have it, they have no restrictions whatsoever. Do we even know if that download is user specific?

 

[Devilgunman]

That's how fair competition is supposed to work though; they're supposed to compete in price to attract consumers.

Fixing the price isn't very fair or legal.

There is no such thing as "fixing the price". CDPR can't stop retailers from slashing the price, but as a publisher they can stop supplying their product to those retailers. That's how running a store works. You must keep suppliers (or in this case, publishers) happy or else you will have no shit to sell. "You want to cut down the price? Go ahead! but this is your last batch."

The reason CDPR was salty at beginning possibly because they couldn't identify where GMG got their games from. But now since the game is back on GMG, CDPR might have figured out who the supplier was and did the same thing as Sony did in my example.

 

[4Tran]

CDPR should do the same.

It's not necessarily a bad idea, but CDPR doesn't have anywhere near the leverage that Sony has. A wholesaler that loses Sony might be forced out of business, but a wholesaler that loses CDPR will only lose the future Witcher games. CDPR has little recourse in this scenario, and their actions seem pretty reasonable given that.

The reason CDPR was salty at beginning possibly because they couldn't identify where GMG got their games from. But now since the game is back on GMG, CDPR might have figured out who the supplier was and did the same thing as Sony did in my example.

It's more likely that GMG folded in the face of bad publicity and cut a deal.

 

[Guri]

So companies trying to turn the open PC realm into a closed console environment of control or as close as they can. And consoles getting the lovely advantage of shipped buggy games that can be patched. Ah, that smell of progress.

Honestly, I can still see PC pretty much open. Steam has its advantages, as well as Origin (especially that refund policy for EA games), uPlay has... err, something, GOG Galaxy is DRM free and Humble Store donates to charity. Then, we have the likes of Nuuvem and GMG (Playfire can help with discounts too, right?) to choose as well.

 

[Yurikerr]

We can safely assume that GMG isn't buying the retail copy and converting it to digital. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think GMG could resell The Witcher III keys from Origin or uPlay. That leaves us the nVidia keys and Humble.

And again, correct me if I'm wrong, but GMG could get only one nVidia key (since that's redeemable on GOG and there's no activation limits) and sell a bunch of copies without CDPR getting the money from it. The other option, if they went with nVidia keys, is that they would be VERY limited if only redeemable once.

There's another option that they might be buying the keys from GOG as individual costumers.

CDPR said that they didn't sold the keys to GOG as a store partner, but they didn't ruled the possibility that i cited above

If they can buy from Origin or uPlay, then there's the revenue share again. And no, this is not a company being greedy. Put yourself into that position. You want to sell your game. Will you go through the path you get more or less money?

But again, if they aren't being greedy, why they didn't reached an agreement with GMG and others? They would get their share when the transaction with the partner was complete.

As i said, i don't think they are wrong, but this type of action is nothing more than price fixing and limiting the choices that the costumer have.

When EA took their games out of Steam and said that Origin was the only place where we could buy it, people got mad. So, what's the difference between EA and CDPR? We can excuse CDPR because they are smaller and cooler?

This is all speculation and we cannot be sure unless GMG clears that up, but it can be weird.

Yes, we don't know why CDPR decided to deny keys to GMG, a partner with they have worked before. We don't know where GMG got the keys, what's their profits and why they are doing this.

But we can discuss the hypothesis of whats happenning. =]

 

[Durante]

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

 

[Alucrid]

There's another option that they might be buying the keys from GOG as individual costumers.

CDPR said that they didn't sold the keys to GOG as a store partner, but they didn't ruled the possibility that i cited above



But again, if they aren't being greedy, why they didn't reached an agreement with GMG and others? They would get their share when the transaction with the partner was complete.

As i said, i don't think they are wrong, but this type of action is nothing more than price fixing and limiting the choices that the costumer have.

When EA took their games out of Steam and said that Origin was the only place where we could buy it, people got mad. So, what's the difference between EA and CDPR? We can excuse CDPR because they are smaller and cooler?



Yes, we don't know why CDPR decided to deny keys to GMG, a partner with they have worked before. We don't know where GMG got the keys, what's their profits and why they are doing this.

But we can discuss the hypothesis of whats happenning. =]

If they bought it from gog it would be what 50 something. That means they're losing like 13 dollars on each sales. Theres no way that's the method they were using.

 

[autoduelist]

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we have no knowledge of exactly why CDPR decided to not work with GMG. That it's over pricing issues is purely conjecture, correct? For all we know, GMG insulted CDPRs mom during negotiations [note: this didn't happen].

All we know is that for some reason, CDPR didn't want to continue negotiations -- which in itself is an incomplete story since the reason they may have ended negotiations is because GMG refused to budge on some other issue that CDPR was unwilling to look past. That is to say, If I want to buy widgets from you at a better price than anyone else is getting, and insist upon it until you feel forced to end negotiations, who actually 'ended' negotiations? It's a two way street.

Conjecture is conjecture is conjecture.

 

[Tovarisc]

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

Isn't points 2 & 4 assumptions made by community?

 

[Alo81]

I really, really don't see GMG in the wrong here. Consumers should be excited to have a retailer trying its best to get us great prices. If you want to provide more money to the publisher/developer, buy the game again or buy directly from them.

Otherwise, most people are looking to get the best value for their buck always. GMG was trying to provide that.

 

[Yurikerr]

If they bought it from gog it would be what 50 something. That means they're losing like 13 dollars on each sales. Theres no way that's the method they were using.

I don't know. When i access GoG without being signed in i see the price of $40.49

http://i.minus.com/jbyFiBpsTIvLl6.png

And i think there's an addicional 10% discount if i owned the previous games. That would give a final price of $36.

I agree that believing that they are losing a lot of money just to confront CDPR is crazy.

But at the same time, if comes to public that they are selling keys that are supposed to be gifts/bonuses, the blow to the sites reputation and teh bad PR would be devastating.

 

[Almighty]

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

CDPR can do no wrong is pretty strong on GAF.

Anyway I still stand by that this whole fucking mess should of been handled behind closed doors. Based on what little info we have it seems pretty likely CDPR and GMG made up so this whole thing just makes CDPR look at best unprofessional taking this public before they had all the facts and at worst a big bunch of bullies trying to slander a competitor that is undercutting them. GMG also took a hit as well since they went against their own polices, but people trying to paint them as the villain in this are making me scratch my head.

 

[Guri]

There's another option that they might be buying the keys from GOG as individual costumers.

CDPR said that they didn't sold the keys to GOG as a store partner, but they didn't ruled the possibility that i cited above

But again, if they aren't being greedy, why they didn't reached an agreement with GMG and others? They would get their share when the transaction with the partner was complete.

As i said, i don't think they are wrong, but this type of action is nothing more than price fixing and limiting the choices that the costumer have.

When EA took their games out of Steam and said that Origin was the only place where we could buy it, people got mad. So, what's the difference between EA and CDPR? We can excuse CDPR because they are smaller and cooler?

Yes, we don't know why CDPR decided to deny keys to GMG, a partner with they have worked before. We don't know where GMG got the keys, what's their profits and why they are doing this.

But we can discuss the hypothesis of whats happenning. =]

Yes, they could be buying from GOG, but they would have to create A LOT of accounts to do that. I don't really think that's likely.

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

Nuuvem also provides great deals and it's definitely cheaper than GOG. You can buy for the equivalent of around US$ 25 or 23€ (and it's a GOG key). On Steam, here in Brazil, it's US$ 29,47 (or 26&#8364 with discount and US$35 or 31€ without. Sure, I know Steam prices in Brazil are usually lower, but like I said before, Ubisoft games are exactly the same price as US$ 60 and CDPR could have done the same. On GOG, it's US$ 39. Technically, that's undercutting their distribution service, right?

 

[LurkerPrime]

I'll also give summarizing a try.

1. CDPR present themselves as "pro-consumer", and therefore don't use region locking
2. CDPR refuse to provide keys for resellers known to provide great deals to customers such as GMG, because they would undercut their own distribution service (GoG)
3. GMG in return sources keys from another distributor and offers a great deal
4. CDPR strong-arms GMG into not providing a better deals than GoG anymore

Clearly, CDPR have only their customer's best interests at heart, and we should all be mad at GMG.

1. GMG present themselves as a legitimate digital store with a policy of sourcing their products direct from official suppliers
2. CDPR refuses to give GMG authorisation to supply Witcher 3 but GMG stocks the game anyways, using unknown sources.
3. CDPR warns customers that the product is not authorised; GMG replies that it is, though not from CDPR themselves.
4. GMG quietly pulls the sale.

Sounds legit.

This discussion will last forever; we can all have our fair & balanced summaries, but unless there's official word we're just shooting our biases and assumptions at one another.

 

[Theonik]

CDPR can do no wrong is pretty strong on GAF.

Anyway I still stand by that this whole fucking mess should of been handled behind closed doors. Based on what little info we have it seems pretty likely CDPR and GMG made up so this whole thing just makes CDPR look at best unprofessional taking this public before they had all the facts and at worst a big bunch of bullies trying to slander a competitor that is undercutting them. GMG also took a hit as well since they went against their own polices, but people trying to paint them as the villain in this are making me scratch my head.

Wouldn't GMG have also acted very unprofessionally by going behind CDPR's back instead of further negociating on the matter? Clearly they were able to solve this behind closed doors so doing what they did was unnecessary.

 

[Yurikerr]

Yes, they could be buying from GOG, but they would have to create A LOT of accounts to do that. I don't really think that's likely.



Nuuvem also provides great deals and it's definitely cheaper than GOG. You can buy for the equivalent of around US$ 25 or 23€ (and it's a GOG key). On Steam, here in Brazil, it's US$ 29,47 (or 26&#8364 with discount and US$35 or 31€ without. Sure, I know Steam prices in Brazil are usually lower, but like I said before, Ubisoft games are exactly the same price as US$ 60 and CDPR could have done the same. On GOG, it's US$ 39. Technically, that's undercutting their distribution service, right?

The same way they would have to spend the entire day searching the internet for NVIDIA promo codes. =]

All the options are extremely unlikely. There's no way they are using promotional codes for the sales. They would never have the necessary amount to fulfill all the orders.

GMG is a big and well know site, they must have sold thousands of copys at that old price.

I don't know if i would use Nuuvem as a argument. They are pretty legit, but we can agree that their prices are not meant to be used by international costumers just by the fact that sometimes people outside of Brazil need to rely on VPN to complete the purchase.

 

[Guri]

The same way they would have to spend the entire day searching the internet for NVIDIA promo codes. =]

All the options are extremely unlikely. There's no way they are using promotional codes for the sales. They would never have the necessary amount to fulfill all the orders.

GMG is a big and well know site, they must have sold thousands of copys at that old price.

I don't know if i would use Nuuvem as a argument. They are pretty legit, but we can agree that their prices are not meant to be used by international costumers just by the fact that sometimes people outside of Brazil need to rely on VPN to complete the purchase.

If they bought the keys as customers, they would have to create many accounts. The other option is reach the seller and buy the keys from them. That would be a mess too. It's so weird regardless of the way they chose.

As for the Nuuvem price, my point was that CDPR could have asked Nuuvem to set a higher price if they wanted, because they know the current price is lower than GOG. And I'm sure they are aware people can use VPNs to buy from them.

 

[Arkaerial]

That's how fair competition is supposed to work though; they're supposed to compete in price to attract consumers.

Fixing the price isn't very fair or legal.

Well I'm not sure it's illegal what they did, just kinda scummy. If I remember correctly collusion is when companies offer competing products but make an arrangement to not undersell one another (ex. ATI/Nvidia Collusion case).

 

[Kintaro]

I wonder if Gamespot will do a follow up now and get comments from both parties.

 

[Almighty]

Wouldn't GMG have also acted very unprofessionally by going behind CDPR's back instead of further negociating on the matter? Clearly they were able to solve this behind closed doors so doing what they did was unnecessary.

Probably, but that bit of potential unprofessionalism was massively overshadowed in my book by CDPR using the a-bomb by publicly implying that they were seeing no money from these "suspicious" keys. As for unnecessary I don't know if we assume the game went off sale because CDPR and GMG made up then it is pretty clear this whole thing is what forced the two to reach some kind of deal.

 

[Vamphuntr]

So the price fixing theory was right? So much for slandering GMG when they didn't care about where the keys came from, they only cared that it was priced cheaper than on GOG.Shameful.

 

[Yurikerr]

I feel like we will never know the details of what happened here.

The source of the GMG keys, why CDPR denied to let GMG sell the game, if GMG was making a profit of the sales.

The only think that is evident is that not even CDPR is above the controversies that surround all the publishers, and in the end of the day, they are a company as many other.

 

[Tovarisc]

So the price fixing theory was right? So much for slandering GMG when they didn't care about where the keys came from, they only cared that it was priced cheaper than on GOG.Shameful.

We don't know why GMG pulled that 35% sale all quite like between last night statement and today.

 

[gatti-man]

We don't know why GMG pulled that 35% sale all quite like between last night statement and today.

What other reason is there?

 

[GatticusFinch]

Wouldn't GMG have also acted very unprofessionally by going behind CDPR's back instead of further negociating on the matter? Clearly they were able to solve this behind closed doors so doing what they did was unnecessary.

I don't think so.

CDPR wanted to squeeze GMG out of the market for the game for whatever reason (price, GOG competition, whatever). They tried negotiating and CDPR still refused. The fact that the game is not on many other major sellers pretty much confirms CDPR's strategy is either price manipulation or GOG pushing (why else would you not want your game for sale at Amazon?).

GMG responded by legally purchasing keys and legally reselling them. You'll notice CDPR never said the keys were fake, fraudulent, or anything illegal was happening. GMG just called their bluff and I'm guessing CDPR is selling them keys directly now in order to avoid GMG continuing to do it. Clearly they were only able to resolve this after CDPR forced GMG into the nuclear option.

 

[Guri]

About that part, I am actually genuinely surprised people are mad at CDPR acting like a company. From the moment I played The Witcher 1, I knew they were a company and they go after profits like any other. GOG started as Good Old Games in a way to profit by making old games playable again. When they saw the huge success, it turned into simply GOG, including modern games. Again, for profit. The Witcher 2 was released on the Xbox 360 for profit. The Witcher 3 will be released on Xbox One, PS4 and PC for profit. Every company needs to make money. What is important is how they do their practices. Which is why I said that it's within their right to not make a deal with GMG. This is irrelevant now because they now have a deal. And there are different prices for the game in every digital store on the PC. I just saw that if you buy it on uPlay, for example, you can choose between Assassin's Creed IV, Rogue, Watch Dogs or Far Cry 4 and you get that for free. So there's a bunch of incentives in each store. It's your choice to buy the game or not and, if you do, in which store.

 

[Syriel]

The same way they would have to spend the entire day searching the internet for NVIDIA promo codes. =]

All the options are extremely unlikely. There's no way they are using promotional codes for the sales. They would never have the necessary amount to fulfill all the orders.

GMG is a big and well know site, they must have sold thousands of copys at that old price.

I don't know if i would use Nuuvem as a argument. They are pretty legit, but we can agree that their prices are not meant to be used by international costumers just by the fact that sometimes people outside of Brazil need to rely on VPN to complete the purchase.

Promo codes often get leaked. That's why we see sits like GameDealDaily selling thousands of download keys from things like console pack-ins or video card promos.

There are three likely possibilities for the source of the GMG keys, though all are speculation unless GMG goes public.

1) GMG bought a bunch of retail boxes from a distributor and gutted them for the GoG keys inside.
2) GMG bought a bunch of GoG keys from a third party vendor who got a large amount from another region before GoG installed sales number restrictions.
3) GMG bought a bunch of nVidia pack-in promo keys from a third party vendor.

Other options are possible, but one of these is probably the most likely as those would all be authentic, if grey market, keys.

I don't think so.

CDPR wanted to squeeze GMG out of the market for the game for whatever reason (price, GOG competition, whatever). They tried negotiating and CDPR still refused. The fact that the game is not on many other major sellers pretty much confirms CDPR's strategy is either price manipulation or GOG pushing (why else would you not want your game for sale at Amazon?).

GMG responded by legally purchasing keys and legally reselling them. You'll notice CDPR never said the keys were fake, fraudulent, or anything illegal was happening. GMG just called their bluff and I'm guessing CDPR is selling them keys directly now.

Except it is for sale on Amazon.

 

[Phanatic8390]

Except it is for sale on Amazon.

Not digitally. Amazon is selling retail boxed copies that they'll mail out.

 

[Almighty]

About that part, I am actually genuinely surprised people are mad at CDPR acting like a company. From the moment I played The Witcher 1, I knew they were a company and they go after profits like any other. GOG started as Good Old Games in a way to profit by making old games playable again. When they saw the huge success, it turned into simply GOG, including modern games. Again, for profit. The Witcher 2 was released on the Xbox 360 for profit. The Witcher 3 will be released on Xbox One, PS4 and PC for profit. Every company needs to make money. What is important is how they do their practices. Which is why I said that it's within their right to not make a deal with GMG. This is irrelevant now because they now have a deal. And there are different prices for the game in every digital store on the PC. I just saw that if you buy it on uPlay, for example, you can choose between Assassin's Creed IV, Rogue, Watch Dogs or Far Cry 4 and you get that for free. So there's a bunch of incentives in each store. It's your choice to buy the game or not and, if you do, in which store.

When you sell yourself as the "consumer friendly and not like those other guys" company for years it shouldn't be a surprise that consumers get upset when they think you are behaving differently from that. The lesson from this is that consumers should never believe the PR bullshit any company is pushing.

I guess while I am on the subject if we are not to be upset that CDPR is acting like a company then I think the same should apply to GMG. It shouldn't be surprising they they are willing to go out of their way to get a piece of one of the biggest titles of the year and not just sitting on the sidelines.

 

[Captain Chaos]

This is a very interesting story. Fascinated to see how it plays out.

 

[Tovarisc]

What other reason is there?

I would like to know that, but I don't assume that CDP strong armed GMG into submission. Especially when GMG clearly had taken stance that they will sell TW3 keys, provided directly by CDP or not. Maybe they reached agreement because this shitshow forced them to get into talks again, but even then I think GMG would have been in position of strength.

They didn't need CDP for keys, they already had secured them.

Several hours after making statement they just pulled 35% off sale.

P.S. Publisher is still wrong on GMG, one would assume it would say CDP if they had deal?

 

[gdt]

So what's the current situation? I actually bought The Witcher 3 a few days ago on GMG....am I ok?

 

[Cob32]

So what's the current situation? I actually bought The Witcher 3 a few days ago on GMG....am I ok?

I would imagine so. Would be very poor customer service to expect you to pay the new price.