GOG Galaxy

[6souls]

During the CD Projekt RED and GOG.com Summer Conference, GOG.com ushered in a new era of DRM-free gaming with the announcement of GOG Galaxy, its brand new technology that places unparalleled freedom over online play and connectivity back in the hands of gamers. With this an entirely optional platform, players can dive into online multiplayer portions of their favorite games, while enjoying single-player anytime they please without needing an internet connection. GOG Galaxy is designed to be a platform-agnostic online solution, allowing GOG.com and Steam players -- with more platforms to be added in the future -- to game together. An optional client will be introduced later this year to allow for easy game updating, and GOG.com has already begun working with developers to implement the technology in their games.

CD Projekt RED and GOG.com also announced the launch of an exclusive pre-order package for the highly anticipated The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which includes beta access to the also-just-announced The Witcher Adventure Game, the first GOG Galaxy-powered title.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt pre-order offer at GOG.com includes

• An instantly-available copy of Neverwinter Nights, the award-winning Dungeons & Dragons game, an inspiration for generations of developers
• A great pre-order price and, on top of it, up to 10% off for players who already own The Witcher and its sequel The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• A Fair Price Package for gamers living in regions where the price is higher than in the U.S.: get back the price difference in form of in-store coupons to grab other GOG.com games!
• Two multiplayer beta-access keys to The Witcher Adventure Game, coming soon
• Tons of bonus goodies such as the digital artbook, The Witcher comic book, bonus music tracks and desktop wallpapers
• Guaranteed more great goodies that will pop up during the pre-order period

You can watch a full recap of the CD Projekt RED and GOG.com Summer Conference here for all of the details about GOG Galaxy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt pre-orders and The Witcher Adventure Game.

About GOG.com

GOG.com is the leading digital distributor of DRM-free games. With more than 750 games from more than 150+ partners, GOG.com showcases the best PC and Mac games in history, from recent indie hits to big-budget blockbusters to classic titles and everything in between.

http://www.gog.com/galaxy

[Sonomaa]

so basically they do everything steam does except you have the option to not do everything steam does

[Salodin]

Time and again people have shown that they don't care about how much DRM is in a game as long as the game is at a fair price and isn't intrusive, something Steam gives us (fair prices) and makes it easy to deal with (auto installing everything we need to get the game going). Even if there is a fair amount of DRM, if the game uses always online functionality (and the game is actually good) then people deal with it. No thanks to another game client, unless they can compete with Steam deals.

[Correction]

Time and again people have shown that they don't care about how much DRM is in a game as long as the game is at a fair price and isn't intrusive, something Steam gives us (fair prices) and makes it easy to deal with (auto installing everything we need to get the game going). Even if there is a fair amount of DRM, if the game uses always online functionality (and the game is actually good) then people deal with it. No thanks to another game client, unless they can compete with Steam deals.

The client is optional.
Speak for yourself on DRM.
GOG deals are routinely competitive with Steam discounts, but the libraries are aimed at pretty divergent audiences.

[BaneTheBrawler]

he was clearly using "people" in the general sense. if this doesn't remain niche forever (or fail), i'll be very surprised. it's solving a problem that most people who have steam don't view as a problem.... and since that's their primary target audience, that's a bit of a problem.

[Kaisha]

Time and again people have shown that they don't care about how much DRM is in a game as long as the game is at a fair price and isn't intrusive

I wouldn't mind Steam DRM as much if it was just Steam's DRM in its library. But no, you get cases of DRM stacking on releases by Ubisoft and other publishers. Had to deal with both Securom+GFWL installing Fuel the other day just so it's authenticated before GFWL hits the shitter next month.

Spoiler: show

Even though GFWL is still a piece of shit and deserves it

Been using GOG more and more the past year for titles available on both storefronts, just because I can play the game hassle-free, and they tend to be more compatible with mods over Steam's DRM-wrapped EXEs.

[Correction]

he was clearly using "people" in the general sense. if this doesn't remain niche forever (or fail), i'll be very surprised. it's solving a problem that most people who have steam don't view as a problem.... and since that's their primary target audience, that's a bit of a problem.

I think you're taking an entirely too narrow, north american view of their target audience. You do know where GOG came from right?

[Salodin]

he was clearly using "people" in the general sense. if this doesn't remain niche forever (or fail), i'll be very surprised. it's solving a problem that most people who have steam don't view as a problem.... and since that's their primary target audience, that's a bit of a problem.

Ding ding ding.

They're targeting an audience that has Steam. People are happy with Steam, Drm and all; they're selling me a solution to a problem I don't care about dealing with (and when I do, gasp I don't buy the game).

At least Origin is backed by a publisher that doesn't release their titles on other distribution platforms to keep themselves up (and this goes back to people dealing with shit practices if the game is good enough).

Legitimate question, is Gog offering me games I can't get elsewhere, or giving me better deals then Steam?

[Cantih]

There are old games on GOG that are not on Steam

[theshun]

Neverwinter Nights: Diamond and Neverwinter Nights 2 aren't on Steam.

You still have to be online to download the game, no? What games do you still need to be connected to Steam once all installed?

[Salodin]

So a client to play games around decade old. Sure why not, if that's your thing.

[Correction]

So a client to play games around decade old. Sure why not, if that's your thing.

The client offers social features to help the multiplayer experience.
You can download GOG games from the web.

I get the feeling a lot of people posting in this thread have never, ever bought a game with the service, or have even the dimmest understanding of the value added by GOG like continued support for ancient games on modern OSes or the benefits of DRM-free games.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Indeed to the above. GOG offers a really great service and dirt cheap prices. Some games can only be found there period. Are they things you necessarily all want to buy? Nah. It's nostalgia and accessibility to a lot of that software in a convenient place. Their games definitely cater to wholly different audiences/time periods.

A GOG client wouldn't be so bad. I dislike having to go to their site to grab individual installers when I reformat. I'd deal with a good client for the convenience it brings.

[6souls]

Press Release

During the CD Projekt RED and GOG.com Summer Conference, GOG.com ushered in a new era of DRM-free gaming with the announcement of GOG Galaxy, its brand new technology that places unparalleled freedom over online play and connectivity back in the hands of gamers. With this an entirely optional platform, players can dive into online multiplayer portions of their favorite games, while enjoying single-player anytime they please without needing an internet connection. GOG Galaxy is designed to be a platform-agnostic online solution, allowing GOG.com and Steam players -- with more platforms to be added in the future -- to game together. An optional client will be introduced later this year to allow for easy game updating, and GOG.com has already begun working with developers to implement the technology in their games.

CD Projekt RED and GOG.com also announced the launch of an exclusive pre-order package for the highly anticipated The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which includes beta access to the also-just-announced The Witcher Adventure Game, the first GOG Galaxy-powered title.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt pre-order offer at GOG.com includes

• An instantly-available copy of Neverwinter Nights, the award-winning Dungeons & Dragons game, an inspiration for generations of developers
• A great pre-order price and, on top of it, up to 10% off for players who already own The Witcher and its sequel The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• A Fair Price Package for gamers living in regions where the price is higher than in the U.S.: get back the price difference in form of in-store coupons to grab other GOG.com games!
• Two multiplayer beta-access keys to The Witcher Adventure Game, coming soon
• Tons of bonus goodies such as the digital artbook, The Witcher comic book, bonus music tracks and desktop wallpapers
• Guaranteed more great goodies that will pop up during the pre-order period

You can watch a full recap of the CD Projekt RED and GOG.com Summer Conference here for all of the details about GOG Galaxy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt pre-orders and The Witcher Adventure Game.

About GOG.com

GOG.com is the leading digital distributor of DRM-free games. With more than 750 games from more than 150+ partners, GOG.com showcases the best PC and Mac games in history, from recent indie hits to big-budget blockbusters to classic titles and everything in between.

[Groovebox]

Free Witcher Adventure Game Beta Key. Uses gog galaxy multiplayer features:

http://gog.com/redeem/LQPKEMUX

[6souls]

Open Beta is now Live
http://www.vg247.com/2015/05/05/gog-...c-multiplayer/

[arus2001]

After incidents like with Diablo III and Sim City whatever, I've pretty much been on the "Fuck DRM" camp. Can pretty much be all, "But piracy...!" all they like, but it's just a music industry-tier witch hunt that hassles legit players when their own net goes down or game servers buy the farm, including things like Lizard Squad or China just being China.

That said, some place handling retro games' online functionality isn't a bad thing. It may very well indeed be niche, but I also wouldn't expect these things to be so technologically demanding. If how people behave with XI is any indication, nostalgia can sell.

[Destinye]

For some reason this kind of reminds me of www.gametap.com in a way (which I loved prior to steam being a thing.) I mean, more options for digital the better but eh, guess I'll see how this turns out.

[Aevis]

Finally. I don't care much for most of the galaxy features, but I'll get it for the auto-update alone. Downloading and applying each update for my 20ish gog games was cumbersome enough.

As others mentioned, gog has games which aren't available on Steam. This roots from gog's origin (good old games). They have a department which does nothing else than hacking/patching old games to make them work on new systems. Also a lot of people send them old manuals, maps or whatever gimmicks were originally included in the retail version, like the famous Monkey Island Dial-A-Pirate code wheel. Those are added to games retroactively and you get a message when new content has been added.

[6souls]

Rollback feature added with v1.1, Restores games to their previous version

GOG’s DRM-free gaming client GOG Galaxy has been updated to beta version 1.1, which includes a “rollback” feature allowing users to restore games to a prior state.

This ensures that not only are game updates optional, but also reversible.

“We know that patches can occasionally break a game or affect your mods” explains Piotr Karwowski, VP of online Tech at GOG.com “With the newest update to GOG Galaxy, we’re giving our users more control over their games and patches, but also addressing many of the top requests from our community.”

Update 1.1 also includes improvements to the friend system, download pausing and resuming functionality, extended pre-installation options and an improved app UI and navigation.

http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/25/gog-...ck-feature-pc/