GOG Champions Creative Freedom with 'Freedom to Buy' Campaign
Digital games retailer GOG has launched its new 'Freedom to Buy' campaign, a bold initiative designed to highlight the growing issue of censorship and the removal of games from online platforms. As part of this effort, GOG is making 13 controversial and often-criticized games available for free for a limited 48-hour period on a dedicated campaign website.
The core message behind 'Freedom to Buy' is simple yet powerful: legally and responsibly made games should remain accessible to players without arbitrary restrictions. GOG is directly challenging what it terms 'silent censorship' – instances where titles are pulled from storefronts not due to legal violations, but because of decisions made by unseen entities who deem certain content 'inconvenient' or 'unsuitable.' The company emphasizes that when games are removed today based on someone's discomfort, it becomes significantly harder to restore them in the future, risking their permanent loss from digital history.
The list of games being offered for free includes a range of titles that have faced scrutiny or even removal attempts due to their adult themes, humor, or controversial content. These include:
- Postal 2
- Agony and Agony UNRATED
- Leap of Love
- Being a DIK – Season 1
- Leap of Faith
- House Party
- HuniePop
- Lust Theory
- Treasure of Nadia
- Summer’s Gone – Season 1
- Fetish Locator Week One
- Sapphire Safari
- Helping the Hotties
Players interested in claiming these titles can do so by visiting the campaign website and clicking the 'Claim the games' button. The promotion will run until the morning of August 4th.
The campaign has sparked a mixed reaction across social media. Many users have praised GOG for taking a stand on creative freedom and game preservation. One user remarked, "Thank you, GOG! Be sure to call Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe and express your dissatisfaction with the illegal regulation of legal adult creative content by payment systems. Demand no censorship." Another player commented, "Honestly, this has made me consider moving from Steam to GOG in the future... preservation of art and creators' labor is truly a cornerstone of my existence."
However, some criticisms have also surfaced. Several users have pointed out the predominantly adult nature of the free game selection, with one commenting, "The idea sounds nice, but it's a bunch of questionable porn games. And somehow Postal 2 too. No, thanks." Others have questioned GOG’s own past actions, referencing the removal of the game 'Devotion' in 2020, which remains unavailable. One user directly asked, "Okay, but why did you remove Devotion in 2020? That was censorship (and the game is still unavailable)."
This campaign appears to be a direct response to recent industry events where numerous NSFW (Not Safe For Work) projects were mass-removed from digital platforms like itch.io and even Steam. This widespread action was largely triggered by pressure from payment processing companies, which in turn was influenced by advocacy groups like Collective Shout, following controversies surrounding games like 'No Mercy' that contained graphic content. Facing the threat of losing payment partners, platforms were forced to act quickly, often without prior notice to developers, causing significant community backlash. GOG's 'Freedom to Buy' initiative clearly aims to position itself as a defender of digital content against such external pressures, reaffirming its commitment to ensuring that legal games remain available for players, now and in the future.
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