GOG wants to bring back physical games, but it's 'a very, very complicated thing'
News Source
β’Sun, 01 Nov 2026 17:45:12 +0000
π° What Happened
GOG wants to sell physical copies of games again, but the company says the idea is hard to pull off. Marcin Paczynski, who handles partnerships at GOG, described his dream of ordering a boxed game from your GOG shelf and having it arrive at your door.
He said the company has talked about the idea for years. The problem is that shipping discs means warehouses, storage and delivery, which is a very different business from running a download store.
GOG has not announced any dates, prices or which games would come in a box.
π The Backstory
GOG started in 2008 as Good Old Games, a store built around old PC titles that run on modern machines with no copy protection. Boxed PC games were once the norm, sold in big cardboard boxes with thick manuals.
Digital stores slowly replaced them because they are cheaper to run and never run out of stock. Many players still miss discs because a box can be kept even if a store closes.
Some fans now print their own fake boxes for display, and collectors buy used copies online.
π― Why It Matters
Digital games can vanish when a store shuts down. A physical option would let people keep the games they paid for, even without internet.
GOG wants to sell physical copies of games again, but the company says the idea is hard to pull off. Marcin Paczynski, who handles partnerships at GOG, described his dream of ordering a boxed game from your GOG shelf and having it arrive at your door.
He said the company has talked about the idea for years. The problem is that shipping discs means warehouses, storage and delivery, which is a very different business from running a download store.
GOG has not announced any dates, prices or which games would come in a box.
GOG started in 2008 as Good Old Games, a store built around old PC titles that run on modern machines with no copy protection. Boxed PC games were once the norm, sold in big cardboard boxes with thick manuals.
Digital stores slowly replaced them because they are cheaper to run and never run out of stock. Many players still miss discs because a box can be kept even if a store closes.
Some fans now print their own fake boxes for display, and collectors buy used copies online.
Digital games can vanish when a store shuts down. A physical option would let people keep the games they paid for, even without internet.