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Sad news, it seems GOG Galaxy won't actually be released for Linux any time soon. They may eventually get to it, but it's "not a priority".

For those that don't know, GOG now have their own Steam-like client called Galaxy. It offers things like Cloud Saves, an in-game overlay, bandwidth limiting, capturing screenshots, desktop notifications and more.

While optional, a fair few games have begun depending on it and therefore they end up not releasing Linux versions on GOG. A problem that has increased recently with a few titles.

All discussion on it, can be found in this post on the GOG forum. I would link to stuff directly, but it appears their links to specific posts don't actually do anything.

Here's one that caught my attention when sent it earlier:
QuoteWe're not posting any news, as we have no news on GOG Galaxy for Linux. As we stated before we'll eventually bring it to Linux, but currently it's not a priority for us, and we don't have any estimated date to share at this moment.

They continued in another post:
QuoteI'm not saying we're not able to, or we don't know how. But building and maintaining a Linux build will cost us resources, which as in every company are limited. Currently we're not able to spend the time required considering our internal roadmap.

And another:
QuoteGOG Galaxy was made with cross platform compatibility in mind, but each platform is a constant cost (dev, qa) . With our roadmap we don't currently have the resources to maintain the Linux version.


It's a real shame for those who don't like Steam for various reasons and prefer GOG, this is a bit of a let down really. Especially considering this is the first solid reply we've had since Galaxy was announced in 2014. It feels like we've been waiting all this time for something, when it wasn't even being planned for yet. If you go to the official GOG Galaxy page and you're quick enough, it will flash text below the download button which includes "and soon for Linux".

Personally, I really hope more developers put their games on itch.io. They offer a good service, their site is nice, their open source client is also pretty slick. Not saying GOG are bad or evil (I'm very fond of GOG's work to bring classics back to life with DOSBox), but it's good to have alternatives.

It should go without saying, but when speaking to developers, it pays to remain as polite as possible. Also remember, this person likely isn't the one making the decisions on this. Don't shoot the messenger. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, GOG
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138 comments
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Crazy Penguin Aug 19, 2017
Well, because of the still missing Galaxy Client and poorly Linux Support I have a lot more games on Steam meanwhile and spend a lot more money on Steam & other Stores then on GOG. Meanwhile I fill my Library on GOG only if the games on Sale, with at least 80% off.

In short: GOG sucks!
Tchey Aug 19, 2017
Itchio is still the best so far to my knowledge about dev/price/player relations, DRM policy (none), client weight and stability, ease of use and all. But it may be because it's still "confidential". If they get millions of users as Steam has, i guess it would change a lot.
crt0mega Aug 19, 2017
Sad, but not unexpected.
Perkeleen_Vittupää Aug 19, 2017
Haven't spent a dime ever on GOG. Does this make me wanna? Hmm.
dorron Aug 19, 2017
IMO all the companies complaining there's no linux market should think first a market needs to be created. How will there ever be a great market if they don't start it up? Of course, it's an investment that would take many years, but... did we need cellphones before they were offered to us? And now we can't live without them.

Also, a small market can be big enough if there are only a few companies competing...


Last edited by dorron on 19 August 2017 at 10:18 am UTC
bolokanar Aug 19, 2017
Quoting: GuestSomehow this post made me really sad. I was expecting GOG Galaxy for Linux any time soon (as they wrote).

BTW GOG.com is now selling these "Pinata" things, where you get a random game. I bought 4 Pinatas and guess what: all games are Windows-only. Such a fail. Somehow did not expect that.
Well you can contact support. Their support is great.


On the topic: Well it was quiet clear that they didn't have it on their priorities (as in on the very bottom). Now you at least have it stated.
finaldest Aug 19, 2017
When GOG fist started out I became a frequent user but as time passed I stopped.

As a windows user at the time, they simply did not offer most games I wanted so I stuck with Steam, Origin and Uplay. As I am now a Linux user they offer nothing of interest to me so I no longer use GOG and this announcement just further strengthens that position.

When Steam announced Linux support it brought linux to my attention. I had never used it before and the final push happened when the "get win 10" nagware got to much. If not for Valve I would not be a linux user or even a PC gamer today as steam effectively saved PC gaming.

If and When GOG change their attitude I will happily consider their store again but remember this, Steam has done a lot for us pc gamers and that is why so many are loyal to steam, myself included.
Xpander Aug 19, 2017
F GoG. Not gonna buy from them until they provide official client which is able to update games automatically.
Don't want to deal with Manual updates or some half-baked unofficial tools. Their game selection is pretty bad anyway for linux, im not into retro games too much anyway.
BTRE Aug 19, 2017
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  • Contributing Editor
Hey guys, I know that for some emotions are running high and you may be frustrated but please try to keep things civil. We tolerate some swearing but excessive profanity is a no-no. Your comments may be edited or deleted, and you may eventually be banned, if you do it too much.

As for the article: I don't have that much more to add that hasn't been said already. As someone with hundreds of games being able to update without downloading the whole thing again is handy. My other main concern is about GOG's curation—what games get on there seems arbitrary. I recently covered Aztez whose developer stated that they outright rejected the game from being on the store. They're available DRM-free on Humble and itch, though, as has been my experience with other games, so I favor these alternatives when recommending stores to my friends. Plus, finally, I try to reward those who are proactive in helping Linux gaming so having developers contribute to the Linux ecosystem (Valve with Mesa for example) and/or helping to port titles (both Valve and Humble) makes me less inclined to see GOG as my first port of call.
hm11 Aug 19, 2017
I was really sad when i saw the title, i thought "how can something so I guess, simplistic (since i always have seen Gog galaxy as some sort of game-update-management & site website-desktop integration client) not be done for Linux?" it seems odd to have titles that are for Linux yet not Gog galaxy for the platform... but then i saw this;

QuoteWhile optional, a fair few games have begun depending on it and therefore they end up not releasing Linux versions on GOG. A problem that has increased recently with a few titles.

And i went like "Oohh" I began feeling kind of glad yet still a bit disappointed because the only reason why i buy from Gog is because the games don't have to depend on steam..


Last edited by hm11 on 19 August 2017 at 12:46 pm UTC
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