Linux gaming: GOG vs. Steam?
I started prioritizing GOG a couple of years ago, buying most of my games there because I love their DRM-free stance. I have an entire backup of my GOG gaming library on my hard drive, so even if something happened to my account I'd still have everything I've bought from them over the years. On the other hand, their Linux support isn't great. For example, GOG Galaxy, their all-in-one frontend, is still not available on Linux despite being out for other platforms for years.
Steam, on the other hand, is DRM-agnostic, and there isn't an easy way to separate my games from the service. I worry about what would happen if I somehow lost access to my account. When a game is available on Steam and GOG, I opt for GOG each time because I'd rather have a DRM-free copy that I can control. Nevertheless, Valve has done a lot to support Linux gaming, especially with their recent debut of SteamPlay and Proton. Right now, Steam gives a much better user experience to Linux users and supporting Valve helps move Linux gaming forward. It also helps that their selection is much greater than GOG's, (though that's less of a pull for me as I do appreciate GOG's heavier-handed curation).
I'm torn because I want a little of column A and a little of column B. I keep hoping that GOG will eventually catch up with Steam with regards to Linux support, but that's already been the dream for a while (and a lot of people are done holding their breath). At this point I'm wondering whether I should just hop on the SteamPlay train and start putting my eggs back in that basket. Anyone have any thoughts? Who do you choose to buy from, and why?
Keep in mind that while what Valve is doing is commendable, it is ultimately not selfless. They're afraid of Microsoft's increasing control over what is fundamentally Valve's primary platform. They don't even need to succeed at making Linux viable for 100% of Steam's Windows users to win here, they just need to make it viable enough that users can jump ship, to keep Microsoft in line.
By that I mean that Valve doesn't need your support, and giving Valve your support isn't going to encourage they continue with what they're doing. They're doing what they're doing for their own ends, even if it has a great positive impact for Linux gaming.
The same can be said, to a degree, of GOG's DRM-free approach, since it was likely their only way to take marketshare from Valve. They're more focused on competing with Steam than Microsoft, so you get shortcomings with Linux, like the lack of a Linux GOG Galaxy client (as you noted), which is required for some online play. Not a Linux issue, but they allow games on their platform be left out-of-date or even abandoned. And so on.
So this is how I view it. Neither GOG nor Valve are doing anything especially selfless and virtuous here, so neither necessarily deserve your devotion.
Personally, I tend to prioritize:
CD Projekt (who owns GOG) started out as one of the only companies selling legitimate boxed copies of games in post-Communist Poland, where there were no copyright laws to speak of and piracy/bootlegs were the only means the vast majority of gamers had to acquire games. The way they enticed people into actually buying the significantly more expensive legitimate copies of games instead of pirating was by including tons of extra goodies they made for the games themselves (e.g. special box art, cloth maps, mouse pads, localized manuals, etc) and also by cracking the games so they could localize them as well as include mods for them that the pirated versions didn't have. They have always had a firm anti-DRM stance because they understand more than any other publisher/developer out there that DRM only serves to drive potential paying customers to piracy and the only way to beat piracy is by offering customers more than they can get from pirated copies, not less. It has nothing to do with Valve.
Very interesting, thanks.
No prob. And if you're interested in the history of GOG/CD Projekt there was actually a documentary on them that came out a few months ago (which is where I learned all that about them as well):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffngZOB1U2A
GOG basically wins this hands down for me. I don't particularly care if they aren't doing everything Valve is doing to support Linux; I think it is more than enough that they provide 100% DRM free games and Linux native executables.
That being said, I am a dirty hypocrite playing all my games on Windows for the time being.
Same for me, I usually prefer DRM-free if possible. Galaxy is pretty nice but I don't feel like I'm missing out on much if I just download the installers since most of my games have stopped getting updates long ago anyways.
I play on Windows now because most of my games with Linux support have some compromise when you use the Linux version (it's a bad port, mods don't work, the best graphics options are disabled, it runs worse in Wine/Proton, etc.)
I am using both, and I really like GOG, but I like Steam even more. Usually my decision chart is this:
This is because I don't really want to buy Windows games on Steam, since you can't just run them in Wine or a parallel VM because Steam would go crazy over your library being used on multiple machines. GOG works much better. But I also don't like how GOG is not interested in supporting Linux fully.
While I'm sure you can use Proton with GOG games, there's no way Steam would understand the GOG directory structure.
What do you mean? The GOG games I have installed seem to have their normal directory structure, just with some extra GOG-specific junk in it.
Doesn't steam have games in a structure like
$library/steamapps/common/$game/?Ah, yes, but Steam does support non-steam games (which are just a kind of shortcut), and Proton can be made to run any exe (with varying levels of success). Directory structure and location don't really matter.
You can play around with directory structures in my experiences, the important bit is the steamapi.dll file. Although it's been a while since I've done that so maybe they've updated their systems.
Apologies if I'm misunderstanding, but just adding my Windows-made Steam Libraries worked fine for me (Steam > Settings > Downloads > STEAM LIBRARY FOLDERS > ADD LIBRARY FOLDER).
You may need Steam Play set up for all titles (Steam > Settings > Steam Play > Enable Steam Play for all titles).
My steam account is 13 years old, I made my choice long ago and there really is no reason for me to buy games anywhere else at this point.