New Blood CEO Dave Oshry has expressed concern about the future health of games storefront GOG, yet has recommitted to supporting the platform with fuller parity to its Steam releases. The contradiction sits at the heart of a broader crisis: an industry aware that GOG matters, but uncertain whether it can survive in a market dominated by Steam.
Sales on GOG now represent just 1 to 5% of Steam volumes, down from the 5 to 10% range in previous years. GOG's challenge began when Steam opened its catalogue to include classic games that were once GOG's core market, forcing GOG to refocus on game preservation after experimenting with new releases that sometimes violated its DRM-free promise.
In recent remarks to RPG Site, Oshry was blunt about the dilemma. He acknowledged GOG's preservation efforts but asked: "they need enough people to give a shit, or, how long are they even going to be around?" The question was not academic. Oshry noted he had no practical reason to use GOG or GOG Galaxy instead of Steam, a sentiment likely shared by millions of PC gamers.
Yet rather than abandon GOG, New Blood appears to be betting that the platform's survival matters for the industry itself. The publisher ran its anniversary sale on GOG alongside Steam, and has promised to release Dungeons of Dusk and Tenebrous Somnia simultaneously on both platforms while offering demos, and has brought the Dusk HD remaster to GOG with one-click mod installation support similar to Steam Workshop.
GOG's response to Oshry's concerns suggests the platform has heard the warning. GOG acknowledged that game preservation requires public engagement, urging players to buy DRM-free, vote on the platform's community wishlist, join GOG Patrons, and support the preservation mission which it positioned as necessary rather than niche.
Michał Kiciński, CD Projekt co-founder and one-time GOG co-founder, has acquired 100% of GOG's shares from CD Projekt. Kiciński stated that GOG is financially stable with extensive financial safety nets in place, and noted that independence from CD Projekt's corporate structure offers certain advantages.
The deeper question is whether capital and commitment alone can arrest GOG's decline. Oshry described frustration with older game compatibility, noting that getting The Journeyman Project titles working on modern systems "was a pain in the ass", and that after playing for five minutes and getting his nostalgia fix, he uninstalled it—one of only two games he has installed on GOG alongside Fallout London. The user experience gap persists even as preservation efforts improve.
GOG does retain advantages: its DRM-free approach allows players to bypass the launcher and save games locally, a distinction significant in a market where Steam sells retro games with copy restrictions attached. The platform also hosts major community projects such as Fallout London alongside its mod support infrastructure. These strengths matter for dedicated users and preservation advocates, but they appear insufficient to move the mass of casual gamers who have consolidated their libraries on Steam for convenience.
New Blood's commitment suggests that some publishers recognise a value in GOG beyond immediate commercial return. Whether that moral and practical support can translate into sufficient user adoption remains the unanswered question.