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this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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Another win for GOG? DRM free and their servers didn't crash.
Although it is sad to see that people don't buy enough from GOG for them to crash.. I guess people like their DRM.
Thanks for the update on that, it would seem that it was struggling indeed.
I mean if they had a dozen users, it'd likely be because they're just starting out, in which case they'd likely anticipate growth and have enough resources for a few thousand users. Nobody wants to botch the launch of a new platform.
Everyone anticipates their user growth. Sometimes anomalies like this one exceed their anticipations. (Clearly)
Pros of GOG: ability to download an installer
Cons of GOG: no features, very few games
Pros of Steam: everything
Cons of Steam: making backups of your games is marginally harder than on GOG
I wonder why more people don't fall for the GOG meme. Truly a mystery.
What do you mean by "no features"? I use GOG to buy games, that's it. What other features does a game shop need? Serious question.
I'm not sure about the others but for me it's proton integration.
As a Linux gamer it makes a hell of a difference.
None. But since on other stores, running the game is tied to using their platform, they provide extra services to be more appealing, such as cloud saves, achievements, Steam Workshop, Steam Input, Linux support, remote play...
GOG has those at least.
I never really considered cloud saves. That's an excellent point.
GOG has linux support (or at least lutris offers gog-specific wine config when you launch something windowsy).
To be fair I have no idea what Workshop, Input or Remote Play are, so I'll go along with them being wanted features. But I feel a lot of things are not really the responsibility of the shop and more of the client software.
Workshop is a built-in mod store. Input is controller remapping and emulation (typically used to play older games that don't support modern controllers, or controllers at all). Remote is exactly what it sounds like (run a game on your powerful PC and stream it to your old laptop or phone).
Those things are the responsibility of the client software, but on all stores except GOG, the client software is also the store client. You can't (normally) run games without the client. GOG has a client (Galaxy) but it's nowhere near as advanced as Steam.
If you wanted to be tagged as a steam fanboy just say so ๐
The ~~only~~ one feature GOG doesn't have that Steam has that I can think of is the workshop, but they have all the rest like savegame cloud sync etc.
EDIT: @sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works's comment below points out additional missing features.
Another one: steam has some sort of multiplayer integration for devs, so they don't need to host their own servers and you don't need to expose ports; instead you can add people using your steam friends. Found this out to my sadness when I bought risk of rain 1 on Gog and the multiplayer was completely gutted compared to my friend who bought on steam.
That's a great feature indeed. And then there's their CO-OP feature making couch coop online a thing.
It's starting to feel like an advertisement for Steam, but they hardly need it ๐
I can relate to the port forwarding troubles. That's been the biggest hurdle about gaming for decades. Idk if lan-emulating solutions can circumvent. Back in the day there were Tunngle, Evolve, Himachi and ZeroTier. I think Tailscale might be the way to go today.
That's not true, here are a few more:
That said, I think GOG is fine. But to say it has the same features as Steam is silly, I only mentioned the ones I care about, but there are plenty more.
This is a big one for me, honestly. I run some GOG games through Heroic but half the time they still don't work.
Extremely rudimentary but yes.
Another good one. I share a massive collection with my family.
Linux compatibility is fine. You can pretty easily install gog games by logging into your gof account on lutris. It'll let you see your whole library and install directly from it, and any games that work in proton will work just fine using proton via lutris. You can also just add your gog game as a non-steam game and run it there.
No they won't.
You can select to run them in proton, rather than just normal wine, in lutris. I've been doing it to run games from gog for years with few issues, namely games that are old and have the same problems working on windows as well. So... Yes they will?
I did not misread your comment.
Can you give an example? I'm assuming we're looking for something that works on Linux using Steam or some other store, but not using GOG - either directly or through lutris/proton. That might clear up what's being asked.
Not OP. But I've had some real pain running Dungeon Keeper 2 and a number of other strategy games from 1990s. It's hit or miss. Some work in Lutris, some work in heroic. Some just fail.
It can be real hit or miss. It's amazing how smooth it is on Steam.
He won't give an example because he's talking out his arse and doesn't have one.
No, I never kept a log and stopped even trying ~6 months ago.
Thanks for the correction. I play through Heroic and haven't really needed to use what you listed, probably why it's a blind spot for me. But it's also why I prefer GOG, no downsides for me.
Like I said, GOG is fine. I just find value in what Steam offers, but I do occasionally pick up games from GOG.
I'm not a Steam fanboy, I'm just sick of GOG being praised as the saviour of gaming in every video game thread on Lemmy.
Believe me, if there were alternatives I'd list them instead/as well. Itch.io is the best alternative afaik, and it has no features at all, just a download link.
How do you back up a game with DRM if said DRM stops working though?
GOG guarantees this will not be an issue. Hell, there even are/were Securom games on Steam. You won't be activating those anymore.
The secret ingredient is crime.
Games with DRM aren't on GOG, but games without DRM are on Steam.
Or you can just pirate it in the first place if you're gonna do that anyway lol
It's often nigh-impossible. As is rolling back to an earlier version after the devs insert microtransactions, DRM and spyware.
...
https://techwiser.com/how-to-download-old-versions-of-steam-games/
?
How to download old versions of games on GOG:
No hacking required.
I like GOG. It is a bit painful for a game I will sink 1000+ hours into (I hope, anyway) with randomizers and Archipelago runs, switching between modded/unmodded versions on the steam deck, for instance.
For Hollow Knight and Silksong, I can just save and launch the suite of non DRM files outside of Steam (and I do anyway), so I don't see what GOG had over Steam for Silksong (other than the store not dying).
That said, any game with DRM I buy from GOG instead