Just two days before the end of 2025, CD Projekt RED announced that it had sold its digital video game distribution platform GOG (formerly Good Old Games) to Michał Kiciński, who had co-founded the company (and CD Projekt RED itself), for $25 million.
Now, GamesIndustry.biz has published an interview with Kiciński, who had retired after leaving CD Projekt RED on the very day that the company shared the original Cyberpunk 2077 teaser trailer, on January 10, 2013. After several years out of the gaming industry, Kiciński appears eager to dive back in and is unafraid of the proverbial elephant in the room: Valve's Steam, which just surpassed a new user concurrency record this past Sunday.
I see opportunities more than negatives, that's my nature, and I see huge opportunities for GOG to grow. And somebody might say that having a competitor like Steam with 80% of the market share is a huge obstacle, but to me, it's the opposite. I see: 'Oh, there is one big competitor, it'll be difficult for them to defend the market, because they already have 80%, so it should be easier to take the market from them.' GOG has its own strengths and really should focus on maintaining them and even strengthening them. There is no need to try to be like the others. GOG has its own identity and its own uniqueness, which is very much appreciated by gamers. Steam is winning with its ease of use. In that regard, I think much can be done in GOG without losing its core values and the way it operates in general.
In any case, Kiciński clarified that he does not plan to directly challenge Steam on triple-A game offerings, as Epic Games Store did, instead favoring deals with smaller developers and publishers. However, the platform will continue to sell CD Projekt RED's games at a rate favorable for the Polish developer, so fans who'd like to support CDPR should still pick GOG over other platforms if they want more of their money to go directly toward the studio.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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