Feral Interactive have no plans to put their Linux ports on GOG

[quote=Linas]

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: Shmerl...GOG Linux team...

A what?

A team in GOG department that's been assigned with dealing with all Linux stuff… Shocking?

Quoting: LinasWhy is everybody so up in arms about publishers not putting their games on GOG? Sure, DRM-free is important, but they are doing very little, if anything, to push Linux adoption. They have no Linux-compatible client (GOG Galaxy), no easy way to distribute updates, no standardized runtime, don't port their own games to Linux, nothing that would actually invite Linux users and developers.

GOG could become a great alternative to Steam if they actually cared about Linux, but until then Steam is much more Linux-friendly platform run by a much more Linux-friendly company.

GOG cares not about Linux, nor does to Windows either. GOG cares about selling stuff. Just like all the rest…

Don't know why. Why I don't care about Steam releases? Perhaps because I cannot play the Steam releases?
The ******(put your word here) client requires 32bit! I have none and I will countinue to have none. For I don't need that on my system, like at all…

They will countinue to receive nothing from me, for I have stopped bothering buying anymore. And that won't ever change because I'm way past caring for Tux gaming.

Quoting: ageres(conspiracy theory mode on) What if Valve gives some benefit to developers who don't put their games on GOG?

doubt about that, but they might take smaller cut from sales if the game is released for linux, so feral will get a bigger cut maybe.

thats all insane speculation though, no facts.


Last edited by Xpander on 18 June 2018 at 2:21 pm UTC

Quoting: skinnyrafDo Feral ports use Steam DRM? Or do they use Steam only as a distribution platform and perhaps the runtime? Is it possible to run a game from Feral directly, without the Steam client running in the background?

I'm asking, as I play all of their games on a Steam Machine without a keyboard attached, so don't have too many options for investigating...

All the games I have (pretty much all that are worth having, before Rise of Tomb Raider), can not be played without the Steam client. Yes, I have actually thought of that and tested.

To be fair, from experience GOG controls every aspect of your release. They control the store page (images, text, etc), the sales, even the packaging - you send them files and they decide how it is packaged and distributed. Betas can be effectively impossible, and updated versions can take arbitrary amounts of time to be built and put online once sent.

Along with a few other things I can't talk about, I can see why some developers wouldn't bother.

Quoting: MblackwellTo be fair, from experience GOG controls every aspect of your release. They control the store page (images, text, etc), the sales, even the packaging - you send them files and they decide how it is packaged and distributed. Betas can be effectively impossible, and updated versions can take arbitrary amounts of time to be built and put online once sent.

Along with a few other things I can't talk about, I can see why some developers wouldn't bother.

In this sense, itch.io is an interesting alternative which gives a lot of freedom to developers, including doing anything they want with betas and in-development versions, and it's DRM-free too. So the above is not an excuse to avoid DRM-free releases.


Last edited by Shmerl on 18 June 2018 at 3:03 pm UTC

Quoting: GuestTry as you might, there's nothing to indicate Feral's DRM stance one way or another. I put it to you that lack of xcom on GOG is about various business deals, distribution, quality control. Nothing at all to do with DRM.

:) You know, it is kind of silly to try to hide an elephant behind a straw:

• The DRM-free version of the game is already available on GOG, but Feral® explicitly said it is not interested in GOG release;


• Feral uses Steamworks (as none of their games are on The Big List of DRM-Free Games on Steam.

Their (awkward) reasoning is of no importance to me. The hard truth is: Feral Interactive releases all their games as Steamworks-exclusives and it is entirely Feral's descision to do so.
You can condemn or approve this descision, but stop pretending it is not their own stance.
Sorry, but no "Feral is tied up with contractual obligations" rubbish from now on, OK?

Quoting: TheRiddickSteam does not stop developers releasing products on other platforms, so the decision is up to the original developer.

Got any proof? Some Licence Agreement scans? Or, are you one of Valve employees and has explicit right to speak on behalf of Valve? And in this case the original developer had already desided do release the game DRM-free, but Feral is of different opinion on the matter.

Quoting: LinasWhy do you assume that they are even allowed to release the games as DRM-free? The majority of the games they port are not even available as DRM-free on Windows. It's not like when they make a Linux version it becomes Ferals(sic) property and they can do whatever they want with the game?

Eeehmm… Hello again! It seems you did not fully understand the whole meaning of the news. Well, just in case you missed (sorry for being Captain Obvious here), "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" is already available at GOG. DRM-free!


Last edited by Alm888 on 19 June 2018 at 12:36 pm UTC

Quoting: Alm888Got any proof? Some Licence Agreement scans? Or, are you one of Valve employees and has explicit right to speak on behalf of Valve? And in this case the original developer had already desided do release the game DRM-free, but Feral is of different opinion on the matter.

I've heard before, that Valve don't require exclusivity, but I doubt this info can be proven through public sources. In general, only Valve's own titles appear to be hard Steam exclusives, many are developers' own choice to make them so, according to developers themselves. For instance Croteam.


Last edited by Shmerl on 18 June 2018 at 3:49 pm UTC

More and more I appreciate games whose code is freely available. That way, no platform lock-in and no storefront lock-in.

Quoting: Beamboom

Quoting: Adamfx990Its a shame publishers favour it despite GOG being the far-more consumer-friendly platform.

Oh well now - that totally depends on how you define "user friendly". One of my major arguments for Steam is precisely that it by far the most user friendly alternative, both in regards to the cloud storage of save-games (where that feature is utilised), the unified, cross platform chat feature with friends, and especially in regards to patching. It's all integrated in one client, one framework.

To claim this is not user-friendly is - if I am to be a bit blunt - really quite fanatic from the anti-drm camp. It is exactly what it is - very user friendly. That's the challenge GOG needs to tackle.

"user friendly" != "consumer friendly".

Gosh, I haven't bought a Feral game since... Warhammer? And on Warhammer they failed to make the online component cross platform even. I have since cleansed nasty DRM out of my life so bye bye Steam. Feral if you want me to buy your games you're going to have to loosen that death grip.