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CD-Action.pl: "Major layoffs at GOG. Employees shed light on company's internal problems"

Astray

Member
Found it on reddit


OG source (Polish):

Translated article (via DeepL Free Edition):


Big layoffs at GOG. Employees highlight the company's internal problems [ONLY HERE].

According to our sources, in October 2024 alone, 20-30 people - up to one-fifth of all employees - lost their jobs at GOG, a Polish game sales platform. Previously, layoffs occurred regularly every two to three years, and annual turnover is estimated at 30% of the entire workforce.

GOG is a subsidiary of CD Projekt, and for years it was associated as a store for retro title games, in addition to being free of DRM protection (sometimes slowing down the computer), which is troublesome for many people. After a wave of layoffs in early Fall 2024, employees of the company - former and current - began to report to our editorial team and told us about its problems.

According to our sources, 20-30 people lost their jobs in October 2024 alone - up to one-fifth of all employees. Previously, layoffs occurred regularly every two to three years, and annual turnover is estimated at 30 percent of the entire workforce. We tried to verify this information with the company's managing director, Maciej Golębiewski.

When asked by us about layoffs and their scale, he replied: “GOG regularly adjusts the structure to its strategy and ongoing projects, sometimes this means eliminating some roles - as has happened recently.”

Good Old Games

The history of GOG goes back to around 2008. At that time, the Steam store was already doing well and was growing into a major player in the digital game distribution market. Piotr Karwowski came up with the idea of creating a competing platform that would focus on offering older, cult titles - unavailable for purchase or not adapted to the latest versions of Windows. That's where the company's name came from: GOG is an acronym for Good Old Games, or “Good Old Games.”

One of the first manufacturers interested in cooperating was Interplay, responsible for releasing the legendary Baldur's Gate I and II (25 years earlier it was on sales of “the one” that CD Projekt built its first big success) or the first Fallouts. In time, French giant Ubisoft joined in, and then it went downhill. In addition to the really vintage titles, GOG also began to offer quite a few novelties, including all parts of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. Currently, there are more than 10,000 items in the catalog.

“We had a choice - either we release only the classics, or we devote our efforts to releasing games that are DRM-free, unlike on Steam. We wanted to give players a choice and create a DRM-free place, which meant resurrecting old titles and fighting DRM in newer releases. We knew from the beginning that this would not necessarily be an easy task,” Karwowski explained in an interview with WP Games.

Karwowski stepped down as managing director in 2021. He currently serves on the board of directors of CD Projekt. Even before his departure, Urszula Jach-Jaki and Oleg Klapowski became his close associates. Both are already outside the company: Jach-Jaki joined Larian as head of the Polish studio at the beginning of 2024, while Klapowski has been employed at Techland for almost four years.

When Karwowski left, Jach-Jaki took over the reins. Also in their orbit was Maciej Golebiewski. He joined the company in 2016, right after college. From a junior position, he slowly climbed the corporate ladder to start as managing director in January 2024. Since then, it has been up to Golebiewski and his trusted people to be in charge of the company's development.

Faced with numerous layoffs and turnover in various positions, a cluster of people began to speak out about the company's conditions, including those related to their supervisor.

Ship on Agitated Waters

- Toward Maciej Golebiewski, I have an ambivalent attitude. On the one hand, his passion and commitment are evident, which seem genuine, and are essential for leading a team to achieve business goals. I myself was also satisfied in my cooperation with him during my work at GOG, although it was very sporadic. However, it was always professional and substantive,” the person who said goodbye to the company in early 2024 tells us. - On the other hand, I have doubts about his competence to run such a large project as GOG, especially given his little professional experience. After all, he is very young and was quickly promoted. I have the impression that his position in the company is over the top. Maciej learns as he takes on a new role, and he is not prepared for it when he takes on the role. As a result, his promotion path and taking a leading role so quickly is puzzling to me.

Many of our interviewees wonder why it was Maciej who was given the position. They confirm his passion for working at GOG, but also point out that his limited management experience is all too apparent. The same arguments recur: lack of a coherent vision, transparency and trust.

- During onboarding, we have it drummed into our heads that GOG is an open space where everyone can speak out publicly, we're like a family and that sort of thing,” explains one interviewee. - However, if someone actually says what they don't like or what suggestions they have, that's when they face a conversation with Maciek, and then often termination, he adds.

- I had the opportunity to work with Maciek for several years, first as the lead of a neighboring team, but also later, when he joined GOG's board of directors, describes another interviewee, who is already outside the company. - For a long time I considered Maciek one of the better people in the company. He tried to understand people, took an interest in them and learned about their work, and had an open door policy,” he points out.

And he adds that in his perspective, Golebiewski did not give the impression of someone who had a vision for the company beyond the maxim: “GOG is DRM-free and classics, we need to go back to the roots and focus on that.”

- The form in which this DRM-free and focus on classics was to take place, the strategy was changed quite often, it was created for a long time and in pain,” describes our interviewee.

- The biggest organizational problem is that once you hire a specialist, you don't listen to their comments or suggestions. One wants to do the same thing as before, but at the same time expecting different results, and this, as we know, is not a good direction,” says another source who said goodbye to GOG some time ago. And also points to, in his opinion, the supervisors' trouble with management.

Several of our informants also describe a practice they call “walkouts.” As they explain to us, it all starts with a private message on an internal messenger. Later, the employee has a conversation, usually outside the office, with Golebiewski. There are no triggers or insults, our sources describe it as “subtle intimidation”: pressure is created, accusations of “spoiling the atmosphere,” “negative mindset” and creating confusion by asking the wrong questions.

- In the organization, no one dares to express their opinion. The gap between corporate talk and daily practice was huge, plus everyone sees it, but no one will call it by name. Mainly because a large part of GOG's employees are young people, so it's easy to set them up according to the employer's expectations,” describes another anonymous source.

Good tactics, Poor Strategy

- The basis for evaluating any company's actions is their financial perspective, and only those actions are taken that can be measured by numbers or money. In other words, we do what is profitable, what can bring in the cash, and do it now, not a year from now. This makes sense insofar as it's a private business, it's supposed to make money for itself, but it's short-sighted because it doesn't build a base of engaged users or loyal fans. It also doesn't allow for the acquisition of new audiences, in which you simply sometimes have to invest with no guarantee of money back, you have to take a chance. GOG has been very cautious in this matter recently and has allocated money elsewhere. If I had to briefly summarize it, I think GOG from a financial perspective has worked well tactically, but poorly strategically, and most likely the current business model is running out of steam,” another former employee offers his perspective.

After our conversations with employees, GOG announced that it is starting a Preservation Program to keep games compatible with modern and future systems. In an era of many games being abandoned by developers or even deleted from various platforms and unavailable for purchase, this is news that was received with general enthusiasm. There was also no shortage of skeptical voices.

We asked GOG representatives for comment on the recent layoffs, but also on communicating strategy and communication within the team. We also tried to persuade Maciej Golebiewski to talk to us before publishing the text. We only received the following response: “On these topics I have nothing to communicate.”

If there is new information or a statement from the company or people associated with it, we will keep you updated on cdaction.pl.
 

HogIsland

Member
No disrespect to GoG, and sympathy to workers losing their jobs... but GoG as a piece of software has all the same problems as every other non-Steam launcher. They focused on the part where you give them money and neglect the part where they make your life easier.
 
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Magic Carpet

Gold Member
No disrespect to GoG, and sympathy to workers losing their jobs... but GoG as a piece of software has all the same problems as every other non-Steam launcher. They focused on the part where you give them money and neglect the part where they make your life easier.
The store would not take my Apple Pay money this past week. I had to buy a $10 chunk to add to the Wallet and use that to buy the games. :(
 

grvg

Member
Honestly, I may just try slapping a nosteam crack on all the games on my steam library and shelving it on a separate hard drive for preservation purposes.

Bummer to hear about gog. Hopefully the Witcher 4 does well.
 

Fbh

Member
I love GOG, it's my PC storefront of choice for any game that's available there.
But I honestly don't know what more they can do to grow. Their biggest problem is that they don't get a lot of games, and there's no way to change that unless they drop their no DRM policy... but at that point they'd be killing the main reason to buy on GOG.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
- During onboarding, we have it drummed into our heads that GOG is an open space where everyone can speak out publicly, we're like a family and that sort of thing,” explains one interviewee. - However, if someone actually says what they don't like or what suggestions they have, that's when they face a conversation with Maciek, and then often termination, he adds.
On one hand - the above is a RED LIGHT if you have any professional experience. Being honest NEVER pays off in a corporate setting. I understand how a lot of juniors fall for that.

On the other hand - it's obvious GOG has no idea what it wants to be given that DRM-free is not a selling point, as evidenced by the popularity of Steam. People just don't care.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
French giant Ubisoft joined in, and then it went downhill

fT4kUMk.png
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
One of the first manufacturers interested in cooperating was Interplay, responsible for releasing the legendary Baldur's Gate I and II (25 years earlier it was on sales of “the one” that CD Projekt built its first big success) or the first Fallouts.
I was there. I remember the times you had to call CDP over the phone to put an order for an English version of BG. I remember what cast they had for a Polish version of BG and BG2 (everybody that mattered in entertainement industry at that time). I remember having my parents drive across Warsaw to pick Diablo 2 at 6am when CDP started selling the game. It's a shame as times go by you forget being scrappy and agile.
 
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Part of the issue may be, when was the last time they slapped some weird, obscure old PC game on there? Not counting something like Night Dive remasters, there's plenty of stuff I wanted to see pop up on there, like 9: The Last Resort, that simply never have, perhaps being stuck in legal limbo.

It's more or less just a competitor to steam with its original mission seemingly mostly lost.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Hey look, I love GOG and own many games on the platform. But if Steam only has less than 100 employees on the storefront, maybe GOG doesn't need that many people either?

They are different companies in my opinion. GOG probably needs a lot more programmers to make the retro games work (and continue working) on current and older systems. Valve on the other hand has other projects, like their own games and Steam Deck. Plus we have no idea how much work they're outsourcing.
 
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StereoVsn

Gold Member
On one hand I have a great appreciation for GoG that was built over the years and I have like 300 games on the service.

On the other hand, what a shit show with terrible management. Going to go over my game backups to make sure I have everything, sigh… 😔
 

kevboard

Member
No disrespect to GoG, and sympathy to workers losing their jobs... but GoG as a piece of software has all the same problems as every other non-Steam launcher. They focused on the part where you give them money and neglect the part where they make your life easier.

GoG doesn't need a launcher. you download the installer of the game and you're done.

you can add GoG games to your Steam library if you want and use that instead without any issue.
and the fact that the launcher is optional is exactly why it is far superior to Steam and any other PC store.
 

RAIDEN1

Member
Ironically I was on their store a few hours ago, to see what they had in the point-n-click genre after recently completing Broken Sword reforged, and I was considering to pick up (the apparently underrated) The Dig (1995) from GOG...
 
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No disrespect to GoG, and sympathy to workers losing their jobs... but GoG as a piece of software has all the same problems as every other non-Steam launcher. They focused on the part where you give them money and neglect the part where they make your life easier.
gog galaxy isnt their focus, drm free games is. galaxy is just an option for those who want it. steam client is bad too btw, inconsistent interface, even gog has a better interface to be honest and they have way less money. also its extremely slow compared to any other launcher. ideally a launcher shouldn't be needed, the operating system is enough.
 

HogIsland

Member
gog galaxy isnt their focus, drm free games is. galaxy is just an option for those who want it. steam client is bad too btw, inconsistent interface, even gog has a better interface to be honest and they have way less money. also its extremely slow compared to any other launcher. ideally a launcher shouldn't be needed, the operating system is enough.
We had operating system first. It wasn't enough.

I'm not mad at GOG for the DRM thing, but it's not enough reason to use it imo. I really disagree with comparing it to Steam as if they're at all close.
 

Wildebeest

Member
DRM free is their feature and if people don't want it then what can be done? It isn't like they can just open the floodgates to any sort of game and suddenly people will decide that, yes, they would rather buy the exact same game they can get on steam on gog instead but without steam features, higher prices, and less consistent long term patch support.
 

bender

What time is it?
game launchers should be optional. GoG is superior for that reason alone.

ding ding ding

I get why they created Galaxy and ventured away from just old games but it's always felt counter to why I used GoG in the first place. I guess there isn't enough money to go around when that's your only offering. Their employee count still seems extremely large given their offerings and market share.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Judging by the sales of certain older titles recently, they do, but I think they'd all rather just do it on Steam.
probably because its cheap, otherwise i dont think they will spend the money on non discount games on gog, and still prefer steam.
 

kiphalfton

Member
On one hand - the above is a RED LIGHT if you have any professional experience. Being honest NEVER pays off in a corporate setting. I understand how a lot of juniors fall for that.

On the other hand - it's obvious GOG has no idea what it wants to be given that DRM-free is not a selling point, as evidenced by the popularity of Steam. People just don't care.

Exactly.

Steer clear of management and HR at all costs, and life is good.

Spoiler: You might lose out of those imaginary promotions and/or raises by doing so.
 
probably because its cheap, otherwise i dont think they will spend the money on non discount games on gog, and still prefer steam.
Steam gamers have to stop saying this lol. GoG has discounts, EGS has discounts, console storefronts have discounts. It's not the early 2010s anymore and It's really sad that the idea of no one else having big sales except for Steam somehow stuck around this long.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Steam gamers have to stop saying this lol. GoG has discounts, EGS has discounts, console storefronts have discounts. It's not the early 2010s anymore and It's really sad that the idea of no one else having big sales except for Steam somehow stuck around this long.
yea but the point is no one gives a shit about GOG, game preservation is not important for the mass.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Comparing steam to GOG, GOG:

- No DRM on all or most games
- GOG has much fewer things to download
- Skews a lot of games to classic 80s and 90s era games Steam doesnt have
- When it has a deal, their deal is often a bit better priced. And even better priced if it's their daily deal

For me, I dont give a shit about DRM. If I'm itching for a game, I see which one has it the cheapest on deal. I havent done it yet, but I should also scope out CDkeys or other sites for even cheaper Steam keys. I've searched, but the low key indie games I buy I dont see any reseller bargains. Same price as Steam so I guess the game doesn't have any loose keys floating around to sell. I buy a lot of $10-ish card and board games.

But all things being equal, I will do GOG because the last factor is DRM free. But if one site is literally $1 cheaper, I'll go that site.

When I first started doing GOG downloads 4 years ago, I remember there was a weird thing too which I think they fixed. I'd buy the game and not get charged tax. But I think now I do.
 
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yea but the point is no one gives a shit about GOG
This part is correct.
game preservation is not important for the mass.
I don't equate the apathy on GoG with not caring about game preservation. Game preservation is bigger than one brand and GoG did a good part on their end so far.

This would be like if Steam decided to start a game preservation service and you suddenly telling me next year that 'game preservation is incredibly important because Steam had record profits this year'.
 

Laptop1991

Member
GOG doesn't get enough new games that the publishers will allow without drm, i love GOG, but i mostly end up buying games on there i already own on Steam like The Fallout's or Dishonored's for better performance without drm or easier to mod, like FOLON this year, but the big copro's don't like GOG's policy even though they are right imo. and i haven't bought new off Steam for quite a while either as well due to Valve's higher prices than key seller's, it's the same old reason really, the greedy guys at the top in the industry but i hope GOG is always around.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
This part is correct.

I don't equate the apathy on GoG with not caring about game preservation. Game preservation is bigger than one brand and GoG did a good part on their end so far.

This would be like if Steam decided to start a game preservation service and you suddenly telling me next year that 'game preservation is incredibly important because Steam had record profits this year'.
But steam is not going to support game preservation lolz
 
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