With the Steam Deck only a few days away from release, it seems people are wondering the support status of other stores. Seems GOG won't be supporting it, which isn't surprising.
Currently, GOG does support Linux with direct downloads, although they only officially support a few versions of Ubuntu. They do not, however, support GOG Galaxy on Linux. This has been a bit of a problem, as some games with multiplayer rely on Galaxy meaning a few Linux builds on GOG came without multiplayer.
Speaking on Twitter, in reply to a YouTuber asking if they will support the Steam Deck they replied:
There's no official GOG support for SteamDeck. But since the device has an open architecture, as we understand, you can install Windows and as such also run GOG games.
They never replied to our email enquiring about it.
Technically, you won't need to do that. GOG Galaxy can run in Wine, although unsupported. On top of that, projects like Minigalaxy exist, Lutris has GOG download support, Bottles has a GOG installer and even Heroic Games Launcher is working on Linux support that's close to release - so there's options available on SteamOS 3 with the Steam Deck to get GOG games. However, Galaxy features are generally locked to their own app.
One reason that's likely GOG aren't working to expand their Linux support to Galaxy and Steam Deck, is that they aren't exactly doing well financially.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: LoftyAFAIK, all of these "revelations" come from "Jaycee1980", a fired (now "ex-")employee from Virtual Programming, who was very vocal on all news outlets (here, steamcommunity, reddit, twitter etc.). Sounded plausible, so people just went along with that.Quoting: TheRiddickCDPR GOG still upset with Linux user base I see. They NEVER did recover from those Witcher2 threats certain extremists made...
Were those threats ever verified with real evidence that everyone got to see (other than maybe a tweet) ?
Quoting: CatKillerNo, they won't.
If they have only dumb PR people - they won't.
Quoting: Alm888Quoting: LoftyAFAIK, all of these "revelations" come from "Jaycee1980", a fired (now "ex-")employee from Virtual Programming, who was very vocal on all news outlets (here, steamcommunity, reddit, twitter etc.). Sounded plausible, so people just went along with that.Quoting: TheRiddickCDPR GOG still upset with Linux user base I see. They NEVER did recover from those Witcher2 threats certain extremists made...
Were those threats ever verified with real evidence that everyone got to see (other than maybe a tweet) ?
From distant memory the things said about Linux (and the community) in certain channels before that even happened wasn't exactly glowing.. quite the opposite, some people have an axe to grind against Linux for whatever reason (hello Sweeney). Plausibility isn't really the issue (now long in the past) it was the obvious get out of supporting Linux jail card that was at the time the real issue.
But it's all academic now and i don't support GOG with my money or time.
Avehicle7887 Feb 21, 2022
Instead of the Steam Deck, I think GOG should support Linux on the desktop to begin with. They're already half way there, all that remains is the extra mile with native client and multiplayer support. Hell, some devs even refused to release their Linux versions due to lack of Galaxy entirely.
With some effort they can be the 2nd best Linux game storefront to buy from.
Quoting: Avehicle7887With some effort they can be the 2nd best Linux game storefront to buy from.
The sad part is, the only one that might arguably prevent them from holding that distinction now is itch.io, at least to my knowledge.
Quoting: Avehicle7887Bad reply on GOG's side, I think they had better not reply at all than throwing the silly 'Install Windows' response.
Instead of the Steam Deck, I think GOG should support Linux on the desktop to begin with.
Yeah, supporting Deck officially isn't a trivial project like some might think. I.e. like making sure games work with the controller, making controller work without Steam and so on. I have no idea if there is a way to do it now even and how.
But proposing to install Windows isn't a solution to any of that, so such kind of answer is ridiculous.
I agree, GOG should focus on improving desktop Linux support, before trying to support Deck if they decide to.
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 February 2022 at 8:56 pm UTC
Quoting: Alm888So, yes, GOG is correct, one will be able to play GOG's amazing library on Steam Deck. Even if the solution is not for said one's taste.Of course you will be able to play your GOG Games on Steam Deck (who had a doubt about that anyway)... if you don't mind fiddling around in Desktop Mode on a tiny screen, with no regular mouse, no dynamic cloud sync, limited controller support (unless you add your games to Steam). No thanks, that's not the OOTB experience I'm looking for.
If GOG wants to profit from the Steam Deck, I would expect them to offer at least some basic integration tools. Installing GOG in its current state on the Steam Deck is like buying a Ferrari and installing a two-stroke engine in it.
Quoting: GuestThe only appeal they have now is to offer DRM free games
I think GOG kinda lost it's way when DRM-free stopped being a thing customers cared about.
When they started, it was a good play. There were a lot more stores and the number of stores was decreasing, so people could be concerned about losing their library if a store closed.
Today, I think people are not worried that a store like Steam will close, or are that worried about DRM in general asuch as they were in the past. I think GOG as a store didn't really figure out how to react to that in a meaningful way and still haven't.
But OK, they do not care for Linux or Linux devices with a fixed configuration like the deck.
So I do not care for them. I can spend my money elsewhere I think....
pleasereadthemanual Feb 21, 2022
Whether this PR spokesperson understands this or not, I couldn't say. Clearly the diplomatic response would have been, "these games have been tested for Ubuntu officially, but they may work on the Steam Deck. We don't know; we haven't tried it."
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