No Linux support. A much worse storefront and launcher. They greatly mislead people about “owning” their games. The anti-DRM stance is nice, but unless more people start to care about that all it does is reduce the size of GoG’s catalog.
Like, they’re fine and probably the next-best option to Steam. I have a handful of games on GoG. But I don’t understand why a small handful of people think they’re so much better than Steam.
Basically the anti-DRM stance. If I can buy through GOG, I will do that because I know that edition is not DRM encumbered. In steam it should be optional, but plenty of games that are DRM-free on GOG are DRM-enabled on steam. And while GOG galaxy is Windows-only, at least they do bother to provide Linux installers for some of the library.
I will grant that Valve are doing a lot more on Linux and ecosystem, with more integrated support and extending the Linux support to cover a lot of games where publishers didn’t lift a finger to enable Lniux. Probably stemming from having a significant more amount of money to work with and freedom from public investors to let them spend as they see fit.
Honestly this is the fairest criticism. Personally I think it’s enough that Steam just indicates what the DRM is clearly in the store, and that they have historically issues refunds when publishers make anti-consumer changes for people who already purchased it.
plenty of games that are DRM-free on GOG are DRM-enabled on steam
I suppose ymmv here. For me, I have a lot of games on my Steam wishlist where every time they go on sale I check to see if the DRM has been removed yet. I also occasionally check these on GoG, but more like every 6 months or so because I don’t use GoG as much. In my experience it’s really rare for a game to have DRM on Steam and still be on GoG. Sonic Frontiers for example - it has Denuvo on Steam but just isn’t listed on GoG at all.
My assumption is that this is something to do with the contracts between publishers and the 3rd party DRM makers like Denuvo. And technical limitations too- I assume there is some level of development needed to add/remove/change DRM. Hi-Fi Rush is a recent example: everyone who owns it now will need to update before January 16th to get the Denuvo removed.
imo part of CDP’s success (far as shareholder acceptance goes), is that the majority of their shareholders are probably european/polish.
at the most basic level, when everyone is acting in good-faith, the shareholder system is just hyper-democracy. if your majority shareholders arent short-term thinking greedy fucks companies can go quite far on the system.
the problem in the US is that…well, you know that george carlin joke about how US politicians being short-sighted greedy ratfucks isnt some anomaly, it’s the natural consequence of a system built by and around a bunch of other short-sighted greedy ratfucks? that’s basically the problem with US-capitalism too.
Even the japanese, who have taken hyper-capitalism/consumerism to much greater heights than america, atleast think on time-scales greater than a single quarter/year/life. they care about the country/people as a whole…you can’t say the same for the majority of american capitalists
And yet there are still issues with Steam having a de facto monopoly on game distribution that often get overlooked.
Steam’s standard revenue share model takes a 30% cut of all game sales, a figure that has become industry standard but is increasingly scrutinized. For a game priced at $20, developers only see $14 before accounting for taxes and other expenses. This split can have profound implications for indie studios operating on tight budgets.
And yet they are so much better than the competition it’s just funny.
With respect to the cited companies, sure.
But if we had a GoG gaming ecosystem, then I would favor that in terms of consumer friendly.
I’ll even given them a name for a VR headset: GoGles
I don’t understand the GoG glazing.
No Linux support. A much worse storefront and launcher. They greatly mislead people about “owning” their games. The anti-DRM stance is nice, but unless more people start to care about that all it does is reduce the size of GoG’s catalog.
Like, they’re fine and probably the next-best option to Steam. I have a handful of games on GoG. But I don’t understand why a small handful of people think they’re so much better than Steam.
Basically the anti-DRM stance. If I can buy through GOG, I will do that because I know that edition is not DRM encumbered. In steam it should be optional, but plenty of games that are DRM-free on GOG are DRM-enabled on steam. And while GOG galaxy is Windows-only, at least they do bother to provide Linux installers for some of the library.
I will grant that Valve are doing a lot more on Linux and ecosystem, with more integrated support and extending the Linux support to cover a lot of games where publishers didn’t lift a finger to enable Lniux. Probably stemming from having a significant more amount of money to work with and freedom from public investors to let them spend as they see fit.
Honestly this is the fairest criticism. Personally I think it’s enough that Steam just indicates what the DRM is clearly in the store, and that they have historically issues refunds when publishers make anti-consumer changes for people who already purchased it.
I suppose ymmv here. For me, I have a lot of games on my Steam wishlist where every time they go on sale I check to see if the DRM has been removed yet. I also occasionally check these on GoG, but more like every 6 months or so because I don’t use GoG as much. In my experience it’s really rare for a game to have DRM on Steam and still be on GoG. Sonic Frontiers for example - it has Denuvo on Steam but just isn’t listed on GoG at all.
My assumption is that this is something to do with the contracts between publishers and the 3rd party DRM makers like Denuvo. And technical limitations too- I assume there is some level of development needed to add/remove/change DRM. Hi-Fi Rush is a recent example: everyone who owns it now will need to update before January 16th to get the Denuvo removed.
issue with GoG is they’re a public company, these are much less stable longterm than private ones like valve
I will grant that particularly steam frame I don’t think Valve could have done as a public company, investors would be rioting over the attempt.
Public companies get heavily penalized for “labor of love” type endeavors.
Though CD Projekt seemingly does some things I’d have assumed investors would have balked at as well.
imo part of CDP’s success (far as shareholder acceptance goes), is that the majority of their shareholders are probably european/polish.
at the most basic level, when everyone is acting in good-faith, the shareholder system is just hyper-democracy. if your majority shareholders arent short-term thinking greedy fucks companies can go quite far on the system.
the problem in the US is that…well, you know that george carlin joke about how US politicians being short-sighted greedy ratfucks isnt some anomaly, it’s the natural consequence of a system built by and around a bunch of other short-sighted greedy ratfucks? that’s basically the problem with US-capitalism too.
Even the japanese, who have taken hyper-capitalism/consumerism to much greater heights than america, atleast think on time-scales greater than a single quarter/year/life. they care about the country/people as a whole…you can’t say the same for the majority of american capitalists
And yet there are still issues with Steam having a de facto monopoly on game distribution that often get overlooked.
https://www.rickyspears.com/technology/barely-surviving-the-hidden-struggle-of-indie-game-developers-in-the-age-of-steam/