The Witcher developer CD Projekt has confirmed it has sold PC gaming marketplace GOG back to co-founder Michal Kicinski, parting ways with the DRM-free storefront. Since the store was first founded by the Polish game developer in 2008, the marketplace has become a popular place for gamers to pick up DRM-free versions of a variety of popular games. GOG has continued to grow throughout the nearly two decades since its formation, hosting popular games like Baldur’s Gate 3, the Tomb Raider titles, and plenty more, without any DRM restrictions.
GOG’s recent efforts have put a big emphasis on game preservation, with the company making strides towards maintaining older games. GOG launched the GOG Preservation Program in late 2024 as a new initiative aimed at restoring older games and making them playable on modern hardware. The GOG Preservation Program has its hands in a plethora of re-releases of beloved older video games, including the original trilogy of Resident Evil games and Alpha Protocol, alongside a multitude of other titles. Now, CD Projekt is officially parting ways with GOG, selling the platform to one of the people who helped establish the marketplace.
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CD Projekt Sells GOG Back to its Original Co-Founder
CD Projekt officially confirmed that it has sold GOG back to original co-founder Michal Kicinski for approximately $25.2 million USD. CD Projekt cited its desire to re-focus the company’s efforts on video game development in its official press release, putting its “full attention on creating top-quality RPGs.” GOG will continue to operate independently under Kicinski after the sale, with a deal already in place with the Polish developer to bring future games from CD Projekt to the marketplace. Kicinski praised CD Projekt and fellow GOG co-founder Marcin Iwinski within his official statement, feeling that both parties share GOG’s vision of games truly “belonging” to the players who purchase them.
CD Projekt CEO Michael Nowakowski had similarly high praise for the co-founder of GOG within his statement. Nowakowski thanked the members of GOG’s staff for their “years of cooperation” with CD Projekt on managing the platform in conjunction with the Polish studio. Nowakowski also stressed the change in hands as a “see you around” for fans, reaffirming CD Projekt’s intent to bring all of its new games to GOG, including the in-development The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2. GOG management also reassured fans that the change in hands is not due to financial difficulties, with the platform seeing an “encouraging year” in 2025.
CD Projekt Has Big Game Projects in the Works
The sale of GOG will allow CD Projekt to put all the studio’s efforts towards its exciting new projects. The developer gave fans a first look at The Witcher 4 with a cinematic trailer at the 2024 Game Awards, with the franchise shifting its focus to Ciri, Geralt’s adopted daughter. CD Projekt has teased a greater focus on narrative choice within the next Witcher game, intended to be the first entry in a new trilogy of games centered around Ciri. CD Projekt is also working on a new multiplayer game set within the universe of The Witcher, said to be a multiplayer game.
CD Projekt’s most iconic franchise has expanded far beyond its novel roots throughout recent years. The success of The Witcher‘s novels and video games spawned a popular live-action series on Netflix, with The Witcher‘s fourth season premiering in October 2025. The franchise has also received plenty of spinoffs, receiving everything from a board game and a tabletop RPG to a separate video game based on The Witcher’s Gwent card game. CD Projekt also revealed a remake of the original Witcher game, set to be developed by fellow Polish game studio Fool’s Theory. CD Projekt moving on from GOG will allow the company to redouble its efforts towards its games, while returning the marketplace to one of its original founders.
Source: GOG, IGN
