14 years after Witcher 2 publisher Bandai Namco sued CD Projekt for cutting DRM, ex-studio head and new GOG owner doubles down on anti-DRM stance: "Most corporate people, they make plain stupid decisions"

Michał Kiciński, co-founder of CD Projekt, has bought back GOG and reaffirmed the platform's DRM-free policy as a core, pragmatic value for consumers. Framed by recollections of CD Projekt Red removing DRM from The Witcher 2 in 2011 and the subsequent lawsuit from publisher Bandai Namco, Kiciński's statement signals continuity of GOG's consumer-friendly positioning and potential ongoing tension with publishers that prefer DRM; no financial terms or operational guidance were disclosed.

Analysis

Contrarian angles: Consensus underweights the monetizable value of anti‑DRM goodwill — a 5–10% lift in lifetime revenue per title is plausible for story-driven RPGs, which would re-rate mid‑caps by 10–30% on multiple expansion over 12–24 months. Reaction is underdone in European small‑caps where provenance and founder ownership matter (watch governance signals and insider buys). Unintended consequence: stronger DRM rejection could raise piracy in some genres, pressuring short‑tail sales and elevating importance of post‑launch live monetization (a negative for single‑sale‑dependent publishers).