Quoting: CatKillerI think it's fair to say that Feral aren't anti-DRM, and they seem to have taken some Internet person's alleged exhortation that people should pirate their games very personally, since they seem to mention it whenever they talk to Liam, so that's unlikely to change. But my understanding was that their contracts with these ports mean that they get paid when people buy the ported version, and GOG doesn't provide a way to determine that. People often grumble about the dev-side infrastructure of GOG. The Windows publishers aren't going to give Feral some money on the off chance that some of the sales of their Windows games are actually being played on Linux. So if Feral put a game on GOG they won't get paid, and it will take a sale away from a platform where they will get paid. Not a good option. GOG would need better tooling and to actually care about Linux ports on their store before the DRM issue even comes up.

Yeah that sound pretty reasonable. An addition reason not to go GOG might be that the costs to have (and support) another distribution channel might just not worth the extra few sales they might get.

Last edited by jens on 5 June 2020 at 5:51 pm UTC

Quoting: ShmerlNot sure what stops GOG from doing that. They have stats on platforms downloads, so they should be able to estimate the percentage of Linux users who bought the game.

Well, they'd have to actually want to, first. Every indication is that they don't.

It's easy to make a sale and send a cheque to a publisher. Writing a cheque to one of two publishers based on platform is more work, of the kind that you'd do if you wanted platform ports on your store. Valve want that, so they do the work.

Last edited by CatKiller on 5 June 2020 at 4:18 pm UTC

Quoting: jensYeah that sound pretty reasonable. Another reason not to go GOG might be that the costs to have (and support) another distribution channel might just not worth the extra few sales they might get.

That amounts to being pro-DRM, since the game offered from their own site has no DRM-free version. I.e. they themselves did nothing to provide DRM-free release.

Also, GOG is not the only DRM-free option out there. There are other stores that may be can calculate platforms stats better. So it amounts likely to simply Feral not being interested.

Last edited by Shmerl on 5 June 2020 at 4:41 pm UTC

Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: ShmerlNot sure what stops GOG from doing that. They have stats on platforms downloads, so they should be able to estimate the percentage of Linux users who bought the game.

Well, they'd have to actually want to, first. Every indication is that they don't.

It's easy to make a sale and send a cheque to a publisher. Writing a cheque to one of two publishers based on platform is more work, of the kind that you'd do if you wanted platform ports on your store. Valve want that, so they do the work.

But how exactly this works on Steam? I don't use is so tell me if I'm wrong... but you just buy a game you don't choose which version (Linux/macOS or just Windows) you want. Valve can pay properly the devs/porters because of the Steam launcher they know what game/version you play.
But that doesn't prevent you to play any version of the game as you purchased a game, not a version.

So, maybe, the issue with GOG is that you can/could download all versions of the game (you have the right to), and just play it offline, whatever version you want, and with that they couldn't precisely know what you playing and who have to be payed.

Am I right?

If that's really the issue here, I think we (GOG, devs, players) could a proper solution, it can't be that hard...

Quoting: CyrilBut how exactly this works on Steam?

It defaults to Windows, if you buy a game through the browser or phone app and don't play it for two weeks.

If you buy a game through a desktop client and don't play it for two weeks, it counts as a sale for that platform.

At the end of two weeks it counts as a sale for whichever platform has the most play time. Play time through Proton counts as Linux play time.

Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: CyrilBut how exactly this works on Steam?

It defaults to Windows, if you buy a game through the browser or phone app and don't play it for two weeks.

If you buy a game through a desktop client and don't play it for two weeks, it counts as a sale for that platform.

At the end of two weeks it counts as a sale for whichever platform has the most play time. Play time through Proton counts as Linux play time.

Thanks for clarification, so I was right, It's based on the Steam launcher as a whole, without it (like GOG) it seems there is no way to have a share between versions.
GOG have to find another solution as they can't force players to use Galaxy, and for Linux players that would be kind of a joke...

QuoteLife is Strange and LiS: Before the Storm are available on GOG, without Linux version of course.

So there's no chance of a Linux version on GOG?

I've been waiting for it to appear on GOG for years, now it's finally here, but no Linux version? That's just too disappointing. :(

Last edited by Gooda on 5 June 2020 at 5:19 pm UTC

Quoting: Gooda

QuoteLife is Strange and LiS: Before the Storm are available on GOG, without Linux version of course.

So there's no chance of a Linux version on GOG?

I've been waiting for it to appear on GOG for years, now it's finally here, but no Linux version? That's just too disappointing. :(

Unfortunately, don't count on it...

Quoting: CyrilThanks for clarification, so I was right, It's based on the Steam launcher as a whole, without it (like GOG) it seems there is no way to have a share between versions.
GOG have to find another solution as they can't force players to use Galaxy, and for Linux players that would be kind of a joke...

GOG analyze user agent of the download, so they do have that info. Question is how they are using it. It sounds like they don't give access to that to publishers and developers.

Last edited by Shmerl on 5 June 2020 at 5:32 pm UTC

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: jensYeah that sound pretty reasonable. Another reason not to go GOG might be that the costs to have (and support) another distribution channel might just not worth the extra few sales they might get.

That amounts to being pro-DRM, since the game offered from their own site has no DRM-free version. I.e. they themselves did nothing to provide DRM-free release.

Also, GOG is not the only DRM-free option out there. There are other stores that may be can calculate platforms stats better. So it amounts likely to simply Feral not being interested.

I realize my wording wasn't that cool, what I actually wanted to say was:

An additional reason not to go GOG might be that the costs to have (and support) another distribution channel might just not worth the extra few sales they might get.

So yeah, there is certainly no interest, whatever the reason or reasons might be.