Soon after it launched in 2019, Taiwanese horror game Devotion was pulled from sale following some controversy regarding Chinese president Xi Jinping and Winnie The Pooh (long story). It was made available for purchase again a couple of years later, though it should have been a touch earlier than that as it was promised to be released on GOG late 2020. However, on the same day it was announced to be returning, GOG put out a statement saying they wouldn’t be releasing it after all. Now, half a decade on from that, managing director Maciej Gołębiewski reflects on the decision to not put it up for sale, after it stood by selling the also controversial Horses.
“That situation remains difficult to reflect on,” Gołębiewski told Eurogamer in an interview. “At the time, we made that decision in the context of very real business constraints, a limited understanding of the complex geopolitical factors at play, and a lack of good options that would both protect GOG and partners and allow the game to be released responsibly. In hindsight, we acknowledge that this decision – and the way we communicated it – understandably damaged the trust our users have in us.”
Gołębiewski went on to say that in order to keep a “global digital storefront operating means navigating legal, operational, and commercial realities that don’t always allow for ideal outcomes. In 2020, we chose a path we believed was best for GOG, even though it came at a cost to our credibility.”
When it comes to a game like Horses, which was banned from sale on Steam supposedly over an outdated scene, he feels that the situation was different, saying that its sale on GOG didn’t pose any “legal, political, or operational risk to our business or partners. There was no other concern driving this decision, just a straightforward evaluation of the game itself.”
I am not entirely convinced by his reasoning, I have to say. GOG explained that they were pulling Devotion from sale at the time like so: “After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store.” Of course, this might have just been the public reason presented at the time, and Gołębiewski is now telling the true version of events, but I find it a bit tough to believe that they hadn’t considered the potential business and geopolitical factors up to that point (the game was nearly two years old by this point). Still, better to have at least one storefront that willingly releases games with difficult themes occasionally than not at all, I suppose.
