GOG, the store known for DRM-free PC games, would like to let you order a physical copy of any game you own on the platform. There is no launch, date or format yet. What exists is a stated wish from one of its executives, along with a list of the problems GOG would have to solve first.
The idea is simple to describe: open your library on GOG, pick a game, press order, and a box arrives at your door. GOG has said nothing about shipping or availability in any country.
The remarks come from Marcin Paczynski, GOG’s senior business development and partnerships manager, in an interview with GamesRadar+. “Ideally, my dream would be to be able to buy physical versions of those games on GOG,” he said, describing the library-to-doorstep flow above as the perfect scenario.
Why it has not happened
Paczynski called it “a very, very complicated thing” to build a business around. GOG sells downloads, so it has never had to hold stock, store boxes or ship parcels, and he said that kind of retail is “totally different” from what the company does now. Physical media also means thinking about logistics and storage, he said.
Rights are the second hurdle. GOG would need what he called “additional approvals” from publishers before it could sell their games in physical form.
He added that the idea has been floating around the company for years, and that he hopes GOG will manage it at some point, without promising anything. GOG has not said what a physical copy would contain. Optical drives are now rare in PCs, so a disc is an unlikely choice, and a USB drive or memory card would be more practical, although that is speculation and not something GOG has said.
Small steps so far
The closest GOG has come is its preservation programme, which offers 3D models and box art for classic big-box releases that fans can print and assemble themselves. Paczynski admitted in the interview that this is not the same as a properly manufactured package with a game inside, and called it a small step in that direction.
The interview lands as physical games thin out on consoles, which is the contrast GOG is leaning on. PC has been mostly digital for years, so a boxed option would need publishers on board before anything could be ordered.
