New Blood CEO Dave Oshry's Candid Take on GOG's Shrinking Sales and Future
The landscape of PC game distribution has seen seismic shifts over the past two decades, with a few dominant players emerging and countless others fighting for a foothold. In this fiercely competitive arena, GOG.com, once lauded for its DRM-free philosophy and classic game preservation efforts, finds itself at a critical juncture. Providing a sharp, unfiltered perspective on its current standing is Dave Oshry, CEO of New Blood Interactive, the indie studio behind acclaimed titles like Dusk and Ultrakill. Oshry's new blood gog opinion offers a stark reality check: GOG's sales now represent a mere 1-5% of Steam's volume, a significant drop from its earlier 5-10% share.
This candid assessment, shared in an interview with RPG Site, underscores a fundamental challenge for GOG: remaining relevant when its primary differentiator has been largely absorbed by the market leader. Oshry, while acknowledging his fondness and respect for GOG's mission, questions the platform's ability to attract a mass audience in an era defined by convenience and ecosystem lock-in. His insights prompt a deeper dive into how GOG arrived at this point and what its future might hold.
The Shifting Sands of Digital Distribution: How Steam Changed the Game
For a significant period, the digital storefront ecosystem maintained a somewhat clear division. Steam was the undisputed hub for new releases, cutting-edge titles, and the latest blockbusters. GOG, on the other hand, carved out its niche as the go-to platform for older games, cult classics, and a purist-friendly DRM-free environment. This simple segregation offered users a practical reason to maintain accounts on both platforms: one for the new, one for the old.
However, as Dave Oshry points out, this equilibrium was disrupted when Valve's Steam began to "open the floodgates." Steam's decision to actively add classic titles and become more accessible to developers of all sizes fundamentally altered the competitive landscape. Suddenly, the unique value proposition of GOG as the primary repository for retro games began to erode. Why maintain a separate storefront when your entire gaming library, old and new, could reside comfortably within the familiar and convenient Steam ecosystem?
This strategic shift by Steam meant that users no longer had a compelling, practical reason to switch between launchers. The inherent convenience of a single, unified library, friend list, and community features proved to be a powerful magnet, drawing users away from alternative platforms. This is a critical factor in understanding the downward trend reflected in Oshry's observed sales figures, where GOG’s contribution to a game's overall revenue has dwindled to a fraction of what it once was.
GOG's Enduring Strengths: A Niche Worth Preserving?
Despite the grim sales figures, Oshry is quick to highlight GOG's undeniable strengths, features that continue to resonate with a dedicated segment of the gaming community. At the heart of GOG's identity is its unwavering commitment to a DRM-free philosophy. This allows users to download game installers directly, own their games outright, and play them without needing an internet connection or a client launcher – a stark contrast to many modern digital distribution methods, including some retro titles sold on Steam with "strings attached."
Beyond this, GOG excels in offering solid mod support, often simplifying the process with one-click installers for popular titles. Its platform has also become a valuable host for major fan projects, such as the ambitious Fallout London, demonstrating a commitment to empowering community-driven content that extends the life and appeal of classic games. Oshry himself praises these efforts, stating, "For guys like me, I don't mind moving files around and shit, modding the old way, but we're getting to a point now where people are either too old or too young and don't know how modding works." This ease of access for modding is a significant draw for a niche, but passionate, audience.
Furthermore, GOG's dedication to game preservation is commendable. It actively works to bring older, often forgotten titles to modern systems, ensuring that gaming history remains accessible. Recent additions to its preservation program include beloved narrative hits like Telltale Games' The Wolf Among Us, alongside true vintage gems such as Diablo 1, Ultima Underworld, and original versions of the first three Resident Evil games – many of which are simply unavailable on other storefronts. These efforts are crucial for keeping gaming heritage alive, offering a unique value proposition for connoisseurs and historians alike. For more on the platform's specific advantages, check out this related article: GOG's Strengths vs. Steam: Are DRM-Free & Mods Enough?
The Convenience Conundrum: Why Players Stick with Steam
While GOG's strengths are significant for a specific audience, Dave Oshry emphasizes that these niche advantages are often insufficient to sway the broader player base. The overarching reason, he argues, is simple convenience. Most players find it inherently easier and more practical to remain within Valve's ecosystem. Steam offers a sprawling library, a unified friends list, robust community features, integrated payment methods, and a generally seamless user experience that GOG Galaxy, its own launcher, struggles to replicate on the same scale.
Oshry’s perspective isn't unique to GOG; he also applies this convenience argument to the Epic Games Store. Despite Epic offering free game giveaways and a higher revenue split for developers, he believes these incentives alone aren't enough to fundamentally challenge Steam's entrenched position. The "pain in the ass" factor is another critical barrier. While GOG strives to make older games compatible with modern systems, Oshry recounts his own struggle getting The Journeyman Project games running. Even after succeeding, the brief nostalgia fix wasn't enough to justify the effort or sustained engagement. This illustrates a key challenge: even if GOG makes a game available, ensuring a smooth, hassle-free experience on modern hardware remains a significant hurdle for many, especially those less technically inclined. This friction deters casual players who prioritize instant gratification and ease of use.
Ultimately, the desire for a cohesive, low-effort gaming experience triumphs over specific feature sets for the majority. As Oshry puts it, "Everybody roots for GOG, right? We want GOG to be a great thing, and GOG's great. It's just that I don't have a reason to use GOG or GOG Galaxy instead of Steam." This sentiment perfectly encapsulates the convenience conundrum facing GOG and other aspiring competitors. Further analysis into these challenges can be found here: New Blood CEO: GOG's Future Uncertain Amidst Steam Dominance.
What's Next for GOG? Beyond Niche Appeal
The core question emanating from Dave Oshry's observations is clear: how long can GOG sustain itself purely on niche appeal? He praises GOG's "preservation efforts and everything they're trying to do," but pragmatically asks, "But they need enough people to give a shit, or how long are they even going to be around?" This highlights the existential challenge facing the platform. While GOG has a new owner who has "been outspoken about what he wants to do, just providing a better experience," the path to reversing the shrinking market share is far from clear.
For GOG to thrive, or even just survive beyond its dedicated niche, it needs to find a way to offer compelling value that transcends its current strengths. Simply put, it needs to give more players a reason to "give a shit." This could involve several strategies:
- Enhanced User Experience: Beyond just making old games available, GOG could invest heavily in making them *effortlessly* playable on modern systems, perhaps through curated virtual machines or more robust compatibility layers that remove the "pain in the ass" factor Oshry experienced.
- Exclusive Content & Partnerships: While difficult against Steam's gravitational pull, securing unique indie titles, exclusive classic re-releases, or even original preservation projects could draw more attention.
- Community Focus: GOG could double down on fostering a vibrant, unique community around its DRM-free and preservation ethos, offering features that Steam doesn't prioritize, perhaps around modding tools, historical context for games, or developer insights.
- Cross-Platform Integration: While maintaining its DRM-free stance, GOG could explore ways to integrate more seamlessly with other platforms or hardware, perhaps offering unique benefits for collectors or digital rights enthusiasts.
- Rethinking Value: Perhaps GOG's true value isn't competing directly with Steam's broad appeal, but rather becoming the definitive, premium archive for gaming history, offering enhanced metadata, digital manuals, and developer commentaries akin to a digital museum.
Without significant innovation and a clearer strategy to attract a broader audience beyond the purists and modding enthusiasts, GOG risks becoming an increasingly marginalized platform. The desire for competition against Steam is universal, but as Oshry correctly identifies, desire alone isn't enough to drive market share.
Conclusion
Dave Oshry's new blood gog opinion serves as a crucial bellwether for GOG's current standing in the digital games market. His observations about the shrinking sales figures—from 5-10% down to 1-5% of Steam's volume—underscore the profound impact of Steam's evolution on its competitors. While GOG maintains commendable strengths in its DRM-free philosophy, robust mod support, and vital game preservation efforts, these advantages are proving insufficient to overcome the sheer convenience and ecosystem dominance of Steam for the majority of players.
The challenge for GOG moving forward is to translate its niche strengths into compelling reasons for a wider audience to engage. Whether through flawless retro compatibility, unique content offerings, or a reimagined community experience, GOG needs to carve out a distinct and accessible value proposition. As Oshry wisely concludes, GOG needs "enough people to give a shit" to ensure its long-term viability. The industry, and players alike, certainly benefit from a competitive and diverse digital landscape, making GOG's journey a vital one to watch.