GOG – Successful online business

Whenever you decide to start new business online, you have to study the market, see your potential competitors and decide on whether your product or service is going to be highly demanded. It is natural to look for something you had or have interest in, since in our era you know, that you’ll find a lot of people with very same interests.

The question that raises here is whether you’ll be able to provide what people need, the way people want it. We know one company that did it, no matter how miraculous it might seem from the first look.

In July 2008 Polish company CD Projekt has announced GOG.com. What is GOG? GOG is an abbreviation for Good Old Games, something creators were really enthusiastic about. To allow people to become part of lost culture, they were risen on in 90’s – a culture of classical PC gaming.

One might ask: “What’s so funny about classical PC gaming?” Naturally, computer power increases, and so is graphics quality. There are games these days that look so real, as if you were actual participant in real life events, not spectator, sitting in a comfy armchair, behind the desk. And if you can have such degree of approximation to reality, why do you need stones pieces of imperfect era?

If you consent us to compare, it is pretty much like archeology, except pieces of ancient history can actually come to life. Yes, they are imperfect, but they also give us clues on roots that were growing for years, in order for us to behold this magnificent tree, grown in our soil.

GOG has begun as closed beta, considering it will be a great success if they can accumulate about 2000 users to test-drive their newly born idea. Surprisingly, within months, thousands of people have requested to become participants in this beta project. GOG team even had to post-pone its initially planned portal launch for 1 month, giving ability for everyone to join up the program.

That is taken that GOG.com started their service with only 40 titles, from Interplay and Codemasters. Interplay is world known company, whose logo shined on many console and PC games, as well as on Arcade machines. It’s most popular titles include MDK, Fallout, Descent and Earth Worm Jim. Codemasters is probably less known in 90’s PC games market, due to its console orientation, often low budget titles and relatively small company size.

Nevertheless, it did the trick. People actually come to buy good old games, even if the choice was limited. Now what made this business successful, apart from wise marketing and ecommerce solutions, is that they have hired a team of professional reverse engineers, that adopted all games they were selling, for smooth play on modern systems – such as Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Recently, GOG online library have collected over 275 games, in close partnership with such giants of industry as Activision, Apogee, Atari, Ubisoft and Epic Games.

What makes people buy old games? One of the main reasons is that unlike modern games, they are really fascinating. Story is intriguing and game play is suspenseful.

To name few immortal classical titles:

• Another World – released in 1991, this pseudo 3D cinematic platform game, with astonishing game play, was really jewel of its time. Survival in the world of unknown, outsmarting hordes of monsters chasing you at every step and overcoming series of deadly obstacles.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/another_world_15th_anniversary_edition

• Cannon Fodder – a game that truly became a legend, with soldiers accomplishing blazing missions, driving tanks, flying helicopters, and shooting bazookas. Feature-wise, this game was really ahead of its time.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/cannon_fodder

• Descent – an ultimate space shooter, that kept many children all over the world in front of PC screen for hours. Amazing, for 1996, 360° fluid motion, that is still unmatched in world of modern technologies.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/descent_1_descent_2

• Duke Nukem 3D – classics that will never die. Whether you played it in your office, grieving to reach “nightclub”, while your boss is out, or spent many sleepless nights, minimizing pig-headed enemies and squashing them with foot, flying around 3D buildings or exploring the space station, you will never forget the joy you’ve experienced in process.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/duke_nukem_3d_atomic_edition

• Earth Worm Jim – coming from Sega consoles into PC scene, it was still the most hilarious game of those days. Whether you were specializing in cows and pigs space launches, fighting green monsters, or plasticizing scuba diving, it was always humorous adventure.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/earthworm_jim_1_2

• Fallout – Crusader-style RPG that has captured the world in 1997, when it was released. Full of puzzles and blazing action, staged in post modern world – think 80 years later.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/fallout

• Heroes of Might and Magic

  – a series of turn-based strategy that never left your computer, when it was still 486 or early Pentium. Magic, ghouls, dragons, zombies, knights and fairies, elves and centauries, and never ending suspense of enemy closing by.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/heroes_of_might_and_magic

• Jagged Alliance – turn-based mercenary action game, you’ll never forget once you played it. First released – 1994.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/jagged_alliance

• Interstate ’76 – most action filled racing game, in our opinion, ever released. 50 caliber machine guns, flamethrower and wheel – revenge or death, in most thrilling race you’ve ever experienced.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/interstate_%E2%80%9976_arsenal

• Kingpin – feel yourself mafia boss, enforcing your rule in the streets of violent city.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/kingpin_life_of_crime

• M.A.X. – Mechanized Assault & Exploration – mines, power plants, factories and enemies – lots of them.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/m_a_x_m_a_x_2

• MDK – a game that captures imagination. Flying, floating and falling, in the world of alienated mining cities. An experience you can never get with any other game.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/mdk

• Panzer General 2 – WWII era strategy. Endless war in the lands of Europe against hordes of Third Reich.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/panzer_general_2

• Tex Murphy – detective series, putting you to solve mysteries of accidental deaths, which do not appear really accidental.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/tex_murphy_1_2

• Total Annihilation – StarCraft style strategy, with battles in the deepness of space, on land and at sea.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/total_anihilation_commander_pack

• Tyrian 2000 – amazing shooting arcade, full of space-staged fighting action.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/tyrian_2000

• Unreal – science fiction shooting game, with absolutely fabulous special effects (for its time), funny characters and intensive death match play.
  http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/unreal_gold

Further success was driven by release of not really classical, but really popular games as Ghost Master (Dungeon-keeper style strategy, where you manage ghosts), Jack Orlando (private investigator quest), IL-2 Sturmovik (Ilyushin air fortress against Nazi war machine), Far Cry (blazing 3D action game), Painkiller (very darkish game, where you fight against Lucifer with shoot gun and shurikens), Syberia (mysterious world of Eastern Russia), Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (with NATO mercenary missions).

Computer games, just as electronics or cars, become old the day they’ve been bought. So, pretty much of future GOG’s market is based on games, whose official sales period have passed, but they still popular among gaming crowd.

Besides those obviously delicious titles, large part in company’s success is brought by easy registration, quick delivery, absence of DRM protection and low prices. Imagine that outdated, in terms of business, product, that is fully usable (or optimized to be so) in modern environment, but costs 3 to 10 USD.

Once you purchase it, you don’t have to wait for it to be delivered – the only limitation is speed of your internet connection. And if you buy it for your kids, you’re not only enriching their taste in classical gaming, you also provide them with rather available alternative to modern, rude and rubbish gaming, full of bloody scenes and incredible realism, that sometimes can tweak an adult’s mind into the wrong direction.

GOG.com started in 2008 – with-in a matter of 2.5 years they’ve reached the top in gaming industry. NowGamer.com lists Guillaume Rambourg – managing director at GOG – as “one of the most influential people in gaming industry”, naming GOG.com as “the greatest resource for classic PC games”. MCV – largest British magazine, focusing on game industry, nominated GOG.com in “MCV Awards 2011: People & Industry” in Digital Distribution Team category.

The most interesting aspect of Good Old Games’ success is that they did not copy anybody. Their online business is based on hard work of highly trained professionals.

They don’t make money, advertising widely-known services of other companies. They don’t sell you books about “how to become millionaire in 24 hours”. They don’t provide you with link farm, full of unknown companies, just waiting to cover their expenses from your pocket.
Instead they provide something that is wanted, the way it wanted.

P.S. We would like to thank people from GOG.com for providing us with necessary information to write this article. We wish you the very best, and we hope that GOG.com will continue to bring classical computer entertainment to our houses.