GOG.com Has Shut Down September 19, 2010

In a surprising move, the online game distributer Good Old Games has closed its virtual doors, and shut down its website, preventing its users from downloading the games they supposedly own.  GoG was (as far as I know) the only online distributer of DRM-free games, and heck, even I bought a copy of Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh through the service.

The shutdown was extremely abrupt, as a customer I received an email notifying me of the weekend’s sales (as usual).  I don’t think there was any way to tell the service was going to just shut down.

Their website teases that a way for the customers to redownload their games is coming, but until then, you’ll have to rely on your own local backups.

This is (in my opinion) a major blow to the legitimacy of online distributors everywhere.  If a service like them can just up and shut down, preventing their customers from obtaining the games they legally own, it really makes a good case for the fact that physical media is still the best way to buy your games.