Please give us Galaxy on Linux, GOG, so I can shop with you over Steam.
Buying games on Steams results in development of the Linux technology stack. No other game company funds open source upstream development like Valve. As nice as DRM-free games are, GOG is not a force for Linux advancement.
Steam Deck was reason I moved from GOG to Steam again. Installation process and getting the game running is so much more streamlined than using heroic launcher. And sync saves is spotty and I don’t think there is achievement support last I tried.
Wish they had a proper Linux launcher, but they don’t see it worth it.
That would be nice, sure. I am just saying, it still wouldn’t give them a significantly better standing over Valve, in my eyes. Valve is currently kinda the Linux Gaming Savior. Hard to beat that unless they also start actively (!) doing something.
Yeah, but I want things like auto updates and cloud saves as officially supported features rather than something they can revoke from Heroic at any time.
Yeah I’ve had issues playing GOG games on linux using arch/gentoo because the libs that the game wants to dynamically link are often not where it expects. It’s possible to resolve it but the Steam approach where they distribute a static bundle of libs into ~/.local/share is much less of a headache.
Presumably Galaxy could solve this problem and make Linux more viable. The dynamic linking of the libraries has been more of an issue than the missing Proton integration for me. Often it is easier to install GOG games with wine and take the performance hit!
Surprised we haven’t seen launchers adding native support for Linux. You’d think they would want to take advantage of the millions of steam decks on the market.
Perhaps they are busy contemplating their own hardware investments, which will surely flood the market with cheap and poorly constructed knockoffs.
Nah, it doesn’t just linearly double like that. If it takes 10 people to build, test, and support the launcher for Windows, it doesn’t take 20 people to support Linux, since most of it is going to be the same across platforms. A 1.8% increase in sales also isn’t the best prediction. On Steam, the vast majority of their players and revenue are accounted for by just a couple of the most popular games, and a lot of that is dictated by what games are allowed or successful in China. If your game isn’t selling in China, your addressable market is actually much closer to being 4.5% Linux. That’s not to pick on China, but China is a massive market on its own, and it’s the difference between the case where you’re selling microtransactions in Counter-Strike 2 or if you’re selling a metroidvania.
Do you really want auto-updates for your games, or actually just want updates-on-demand? Or just a notification with a button to update the game?
Personally I dislike Steams auto updates, because I want decide when a game should be updated. I might have mods installed, only mobile internet or a myriad other reasons not to be forced to download and apply an update right at that moment and instead just play the old version.
For saves, I normally just use syncthing. I have regularly issues with GOG and Steam cloud saves, and syncthing works well enough,
I want auto updates for my games so close to “always” that you can only tell it’s not 100% if you squint a bit. I use Syncthing in other contexts, like syncing emulator saves to and from desktop and Steam Deck, and it’s not quite as easy as Steam cloud saves.
Setup is annoying, and feedback on whether or not it’s working is a bit rough. I’ve lost data by misconfiguring it before. You have to run a background daemon on a device where battery life matters, so I tend to shut it off when I’m done. Syncing saves with SyncThing requires knowing where those save files are, whereas being built into the launcher client means they already know where those saves are, and that step is already done.
Neat. I was aware of Heroic before, but I haven’t heard of this. This does change the equation for me, because now there’s a data point that GOG can use to see where my money’s going and how they can get more of it. What can you tell me about their refund policy? Are the results on ProtonDB just as reliable for GOG versions as they are for Steam versions of games? Does Heroic pre-compile Vulkan shaders the way that Proton on Steam enforces it? Whatever answers you don’t have, I can do some of my own homework, but I’m intrigued now.
Please give us Galaxy on Linux, GOG, so I can shop with you over Steam.
Buying games on Steams results in development of the Linux technology stack. No other game company funds open source upstream development like Valve. As nice as DRM-free games are, GOG is not a force for Linux advancement.
Steam Deck was reason I moved from GOG to Steam again. Installation process and getting the game running is so much more streamlined than using heroic launcher. And sync saves is spotty and I don’t think there is achievement support last I tried.
Wish they had a proper Linux launcher, but they don’t see it worth it.
For example, this game is Windows only
OK, cool:
Thx Valve.
Yeah, I meant windows only on GOG
As long as GOG doesn’t invest in Wine/Proton, Valve has still the upper hand in Linux support and therefore deserve my money more.
They don’t even need to invest in its development. They just need to integrate it as a launch option.
That would be nice, sure. I am just saying, it still wouldn’t give them a significantly better standing over Valve, in my eyes. Valve is currently kinda the Linux Gaming Savior. Hard to beat that unless they also start actively (!) doing something.
GOG is tiny compared to Valve. They simply don’t have the resources to invest in Linux R&D. Expecting them to do so is futile.
What does that change about what I said? I don’t expect them to. I simply stated why I prefer Steam over GOG.
Heroic Launcher is decent enough to use.
Yeah, but I want things like auto updates and cloud saves as officially supported features rather than something they can revoke from Heroic at any time.
how long you been using it?
Since I got my Steam Deck, I think that was 2 years ago or so now? But I also ended up using it on my Windows PC to replace Amazon, Gog, and Epic.
It’s not perfect, but it does the job and means I don’t need multiple clients.
Yeah I’ve had issues playing GOG games on linux using arch/gentoo because the libs that the game wants to dynamically link are often not where it expects. It’s possible to resolve it but the Steam approach where they distribute a static bundle of libs into ~/.local/share is much less of a headache.
Presumably Galaxy could solve this problem and make Linux more viable. The dynamic linking of the libraries has been more of an issue than the missing Proton integration for me. Often it is easier to install GOG games with wine and take the performance hit!
Why do they dynamically link libs instead of static linking, or better yet, distributing an AppImage?
Could be licensing or decreased server costs with smaller executable downloads? Not sure without being a fly on the wall at GOG.
Static vs dynamic linking is a huge, flame war-triggering debate in software. Like the original vim vs emacs.
Surprised we haven’t seen launchers adding native support for Linux. You’d think they would want to take advantage of the millions of steam decks on the market.
Perhaps they are busy contemplating their own hardware investments, which will surely flood the market with cheap and poorly constructed knockoffs.
There’s little to no business incentive for other launchers to add support for an OS used only by approx. 1.7% of PC gamers.
Less incentive, but 1.7% of a huge number of customers may still be profitable.
You’d be doubling your building, testing and supporting efforts for a ~1.8% increase in sales at best.
Granted, these numbers are just rough estimates based on Steam’s hardware survey, but that’s the ballpark we’re finding ourselves in.
Nah, it doesn’t just linearly double like that. If it takes 10 people to build, test, and support the launcher for Windows, it doesn’t take 20 people to support Linux, since most of it is going to be the same across platforms. A 1.8% increase in sales also isn’t the best prediction. On Steam, the vast majority of their players and revenue are accounted for by just a couple of the most popular games, and a lot of that is dictated by what games are allowed or successful in China. If your game isn’t selling in China, your addressable market is actually much closer to being 4.5% Linux. That’s not to pick on China, but China is a massive market on its own, and it’s the difference between the case where you’re selling microtransactions in Counter-Strike 2 or if you’re selling a metroidvania.
Just in case you don’t know: You can buy GOG games and download the installers in a browser.
Yes, that’s the selling point, but I also value automatic updates and cloud saves most of the time.
Do you really want auto-updates for your games, or actually just want updates-on-demand? Or just a notification with a button to update the game?
Personally I dislike Steams auto updates, because I want decide when a game should be updated. I might have mods installed, only mobile internet or a myriad other reasons not to be forced to download and apply an update right at that moment and instead just play the old version.
For saves, I normally just use syncthing. I have regularly issues with GOG and Steam cloud saves, and syncthing works well enough,
I want auto updates for my games so close to “always” that you can only tell it’s not 100% if you squint a bit. I use Syncthing in other contexts, like syncing emulator saves to and from desktop and Steam Deck, and it’s not quite as easy as Steam cloud saves.
Why so? I use SyncThing and I have no issues with it what so ever.
Setup is annoying, and feedback on whether or not it’s working is a bit rough. I’ve lost data by misconfiguring it before. You have to run a background daemon on a device where battery life matters, so I tend to shut it off when I’m done. Syncing saves with SyncThing requires knowing where those save files are, whereas being built into the launcher client means they already know where those saves are, and that step is already done.
You can use the Heroic Games Launcher, which runs GOG games through Proton, offers automatic updates and integrates with GOG cloud saves.
Buying games on GOG through their launcher also gives them a cut of the money!
Do you have a source on Heroic getting a cut? I can’t find it in their FAQ.
It’s in their latest release notes: https://github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher/releases/tag/v2.13.0
It’s also featured on their donate page: https://heroicgameslauncher.com/donate
Neat. I was aware of Heroic before, but I haven’t heard of this. This does change the equation for me, because now there’s a data point that GOG can use to see where my money’s going and how they can get more of it. What can you tell me about their refund policy? Are the results on ProtonDB just as reliable for GOG versions as they are for Steam versions of games? Does Heroic pre-compile Vulkan shaders the way that Proton on Steam enforces it? Whatever answers you don’t have, I can do some of my own homework, but I’m intrigued now.
You can refund any purchase within 30 days. There are no restrictions on playtime, since GOG can’t feasibly control that.
You can get your refund either as store credit or to the payment method you used, however store credit is usually processed much faster.
I can only vaguely answer this by saying the games that I tried (mainly indie games like Dead Cells and One Step from Eden) worked flawlessly.
Heroic Games Launcher has a Mastodon presence, so you can ask them there! https://mastodon.social/@heroiclauncher
Thanks a bunch. If I get the answers I’m looking for, maybe GOG will be my go-to.