TLDR: Why limit yourself to one when you can use both!?


I use GOG as my primary source for games because of their anti-DRM stance and the ability to download full game installers. Although yeah, for big games updating can get tedious. I'm not a big fan of having an extra launcher when a desktop shortcut will do, and I don't care about tracking time played or achievements, so not having the Galaxy client on Linux counts as an advantage for me. Not having the part of Galaxy that developers can integrate into their games sucks, however. Means some games won't have a Linux release on GOG, only on Steam.

The games I have on Steam are either those whose physical editions required Steam, or which are not available on GOG (natively or at all). I appreciate the work Valve puts into Linux, so I grudgingly put up with their DRM and client. To be fair, I also have DRM free games on Steam, which can be started without the client once installed. So having DRM or not depends on the developer more so than Valve. Also, checking my list of most anticipated games of 2020, the majority so far is only listed on Steam, so I guess Valve will see a couple more purchases this year.

Preposterous. He must choose and stick to his choice until the cold, bitter, dark end.

Quoting: kaimanTLDR: Why limit yourself to one when you can use both!?

because valve supports linux and with a client you get updates automatically
also it is easier to play non-linux games with steam

For me, I'm happy to buy games at all stores supporting Linux titles. That means I'll get games on Steam, GOG, Humble, itch.io, Fanatical, Indiegala, Gamersgate, Chrono.gg, Feral Interactive, and similar.

I avoid stores which do not sell Linux titles, e.g. Epic, Ubisoft, Blizzard. That doesn't stop me grabbing all the freebies on Epic's store though (60+ quality titles so far). I also avoid grey marketplaces for key sales such as G2A or Kinguin as there is too much potential for buying a fraudulently-acquired key and then having that key withdrawn by developers later.

I favour DRM-Free downloadable titles, but I favour value for money as well, and I keep a close eye on game prices, particularly games in my wishlist. I will buy 'Windows' titles on Steam that work with Steam Play / Proton (and thus get counted as Linux purchases and I can play them on Linux) but when I buy such titles, I aim to get them at substantial discount - I'm more willing to pay my money for proper native Linux titles. I *still* haven't bought The Witcher 3 to play on Steam Play because it hasn't dropped to a low enough discount level yet (~ 70%). Had TW3 come to native Linux, I'd have paid full price, no problem. Maybe when it drops to 85% off *then* I'll get it.

Following on from this, I tend to avoid buying DRM-Free Windows titles on GOG because I don't like messing with WINE for myself. I'd rather use Steam Play to easily play any Windows titles that I own on Linux. As a result of this, Valve wins more sales.

I can quite easily play games titles on Windows, but hold back from doing it, and 99.9% of my game playing is done on Linux.

For me:
1. itch.io
2. GOG
2. Steam

I used to support GOG as much as I could, but then I switched to Linux, and there was no launcher / updater available on GOG (I even participated in the GOG Galaxy 2 beta, in hope for Linux support :( )

However, the thing that disgusted me from GOG is this: I bought a game (twice, for coop play) on GOG. After that I migrated to Linux, and so I wanted to see if it was possible to play it through Wine. I discovered that the game had been released later as a native Linux version !

So, I went on the GOG website, to download the Linux version and.... Nope. No Linux version there.
I looked on Steam, and there was indeed the Linux version, but I learned that GOG didn't bother with it !

Apparently, this was the case for other titles as well.

So, I re-bought the game on Steam, as well as a few others that I had bought on GOG, so I could play them with Proton.

Until GOG comes up with a launcher / updater on Linux, and release Linux versions of their games as well, I'll stick with Steam. They might be big, there might have DRM, but at least they care...

Quoting: furaxhornyxI used to support GOG as much as I could, but then I switched to Linux, and there was no launcher / updater available on GOG (I even participated in the GOG Galaxy 2 beta, in hope for Linux support :( )

However, the thing that disgusted me from GOG is this: I bought a game (twice, for coop play) on GOG. After that I migrated to Linux, and so I wanted to see if it was possible to play it through Wine. I discovered that the game had been released later as a native Linux version !

So, I went on the GOG website, to download the Linux version and.... Nope. No Linux version there.
I looked on Steam, and there was indeed the Linux version, but I learned that GOG didn't bother with it !

I'm pretty sure it was the developers/publishers who didn't bother to upload the Linux version to GOG. There is not much that GOG can do about that.

I prefer Itch.io or Game Jolt first and foremost as they have not only DRM free options but open source clients if you choose to use them. GOG and Humble Store would be next for DRM free options. Steam would be last. This being said Steam has by far the best community features compared to any other. Everything from the friend system; to reviews; to currators; the activity feed; etc all are light years ahead of anything I mentioned. So if you prefer DRM free games then choose Itch.io; Game Jolt; GOG or Humble when available but if you crave the best community features then Steam is your best option.

Steam for me as it is main reason that we CAN talk about Gaming under linux. vise versa.
thanks to all Steam workers devs etc.

Quoting: damarrinGog hates Linux and support it only as an afterthought. There’s no galaxy, so when a new game comes out you need to redownload the entire game usually and install it again. For Win only games, you need something like Lutris to install and run the game. But, they are drm-free.

Steam treats Linux as a first class citizen and Valve puts lots of money into it. Both native and non-native games live together in the Steam client and are virtually indistinguishable, they all update and their saves sync and Valve puts lots of effort into making Win only games run as well as they can. But, many have drm.

It’s your call, really.

This.

Whilst I buy the majority of my games via GOG.com (I've been burned too many times by vendor lock-in to race down that path again), Steam is the more Linux friendly of the two companies...

When GOG.com first started releasing Linux games, they made this big "song and dance" about how they were going to release so many Linux games in the future - that lasted five minutes and 99% of new "Linux" titles on their store these days is so-called "shovelware". Further to this, CD Projekt (the owner of GOG.com) consistently refuse to release or port their own games to Linux, despite repeated requests by gamers.

In stark contrast, Valve Software not only actively encourage developers to release their games for Linux-based operating systems, but they also fund, participate in and / or oversee multiple projects which benefit Linux directly - "Proton" and "SteamOS" / "Steam Machines" being two of the most famous examples (though there are countless others).

So if you must have games DRM-free, GOG.com is the way to go... But if you want to support a company that is especially pro-Linux, Steam is the better option.

Quoting: GuestSteam where I can't find the game on GOG.

This is what I do - I check GOG.com first and if it's not available on GOG.com, then I often buy the game via Steam (I won't if I suspect or know the game will eventually come to GOG.com)... "Series" games I tend to buy in one place though - for example, the "Tomb Raider" reboot I will only buy via Steam - because I prefer for "series" games to be kept in one library, rather than all over the place.

Quoting: RoosterI'm pretty sure it was the developers/publishers who didn't bother to upload the Linux version to GOG. There is not much that GOG can do about that.

This is most likely the correct answer, but there's no reason why GOG.com couldn't approach the developer about making a Linux version available (Feral and Aspyr Media have both been known to do this, for example)... After all, GOG.com wants to make money and if they have more Linux games in their catalog - especially so-called "AAA titles" - they would make more money.

But GOG.com don't do this and when customers ask why they don't actively approach developers who already have Linux games available via Steam, they usually get something along the lines of "it's too hard" (obviously GOG.com don't use that wording - but that's the general gist of what they say)... I've asked myself a number of times, and I have spoken to loads of people that have asked the same question and got the same answer.

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 13 April 2020 at 6:22 am UTC