There's been a number of instances of game releases being delayed on GOG because their developers are still working on Galaxy integration. The most recent example is Chucklefish's WARGROOVE. I suppose it's nice for those that care about such things that certain developers are willing and able to spend the additional time, but what of those that won't or can't? How much is GOG pushing Galaxy integration? Enough to scare willing developers and publishers away? Enough to reject some of them outright?

Dan Adelman: "In terms of if or when Axiom Verge will ever come to GOG, we're going to need to look into it. We have nothing against the platform and nothing against releasing a DRM-free version. It really comes down to the work required to bring it to the system and integrate it with Galaxy. I'm just the business half of the Axiom Verge team, and Tom Happ (the guy who made Axiom Verge entirely by himself) is the only one available to do the integration. We need to think about all the other things Tom could be doing - including working on his next game and taking care of his son - and decide how best to use his time. If I could wave a magic wand and have it out on GOG with Galaxy integration, we'd have done it already."

What games do you know of that have been delayed or prevented from releasing altogether because of Galaxy?

Galaxy integration is a little vague... what kind of integration ? Multiplayer ? achievements ? cloud saves ?

Also you have to remember if a game was to be released without achievements, multiplayer or whatever feature Galaxy offer it you would have plenty of peoples complaining that Gog is getting an inferior version.

So even if I personally don't care about achievements or any other "social" features and I only seldomly care about multiplayer I understand why Gog might want to push Galaxy integration; not because of some evil "let's force our optional client everywhere so that we can make it non-optional in the future" conspiracy but simply because they want to try to avoid a heated "controversy" about them selling an incomplete version.

Depends I guess?

I mean, if a game has multiplayer that relies on a third party matchmaking service like Steam and it needs to be changed to Galaxy to be released on GOG (Because then it's suddenly 'ok'), then I do think the game shouldn't be released until the whole game is ready and accessible.

I get that many of the regulars here don't care for multiplayer, heck there were hardly multiplayer games on GOG before Galaxy, but it *is* a part of the game, and releasing a game with a part of it broken till further notice is quite the negative imo.

Of course, if it's just to implement achievements or something like that, that might make it a bit tougher to expect a delay for that, though some might still argue that's part of the game.

I'd rather the game gets delayed for reasons that will benefit the customer (ie. Galaxy integration) instead of just the "curators" thinking it's a good idea to play play hard to get with indie devs.

That being said, if a game has a working singleplayer mode, I'd prefer it to be here sooner rather than later.

Want the Linux version of Project Highrise on GOG?

On the 22nd of October 2016 someone on Twitter asked: "Where is the Linux GoG version? I would have gotten it on Humble, but they're not a friend of DRM-free any more..."

SomaSim: "We've got the experimental Linux on Steam. We need GOG to do more/better Galaxy integration Linux before we can there."

On the 5th of June 2017 the person asked for an update: "So is that still happening? I'm not sure what you need from Galaxy."

SomaSim: "Good question. Not sure what's going on with Galaxy and their support for Linux."

https://twitter.com/somasim_games/status/790582194641207296

Barry, I salute your enthusiasm to a degree, but sit down for a moment. On the behalf of a couple of the GOG Discords, I'm intervening.


It's just that rather often, you go well beyond the call of duty, and far beyond what any one user should do. Your gung-ho attitude often gets mistaken as officaility, and your tendency to be so persistent in getting games here has knowingly caused some devs to be hesitant to release; even when other users explain things out.

All you really need to do is ask once, make it clear you aren't a GOG official, and record their response. If others want to go ask, then let them go ask. You don't need to be the voice of many.

Like a parrot I'll repeat what I've said numerous times about the Linux versions: Since devs can make the Linux versions of games run on Steam, then all they'd have to do is make the game run without Steam being a requirement, send it to GOG and forget about the bloody Galaxy. It would be no different than offering the game DRM-Free on Humble or Itch.io.

Hell, I'd be happy to pay full price for Axiom Verge on GOG, with Soundtrack included too.

Devs offering Linux games need to stop worrying less about Galaxy and more focus on actually releasing the damn game, it will leave a hole in my wallet but that's my problem.

I haven't asked any developers about GOG in like three and a half years, so I'm not sure why you felt the need to make that statement. I do still inquire about games on these forums and quote developers responses to the inquiries of others, so perhaps that explains your confusion.

Seeing as I oppose the idea of a client, so Galaxy, to begin with, of course I'm not ok with it negatively affecting anything whatsoever.
And if it's apparently ok for some updates to be first delivered through Galaxy and only later become available as standalone, why wouldn't the opposite also be possible?

I'm not convinced Linux releases are necessarily being held up by the developers. The Linux build of Project Highrise, a single-player game, has been available for a while and it seems like SomaSim Games are willing to release it. It could be that GOG doesn't want to release a non-Galaxy Linux version and get complaints about the lack of achievements and cloud saves available to Windows and Mac users.

If that were the case, GOG wouldn't release any other Linux game because all of them would lack Galaxy.

It would be completely new to me that GOG is forcing Galaxy to the devs AT ALL. Imo it's the other way around. Many customers today WANT a cient (or at least the features that are coming with it) which is one of the main reasons GOG developed Galaxy. Devs however want to get their game sold and they think a client would raise the purchases because of the fact that many customers want to have the features a client is offering.

Also, if GOG WOULD in fact force Galaxy integration to the devs (which I doubt) they would not release MANY games without Galaxy achievements at all. Yet you can read some users complaining about missing achievements for certain newly released games.

So imo the decision to not reelase before having complete Galaxy integration is probably just the devs decision and not one GOG is to blame for. At least that is what I think. Imo it would be okay if the devs would release first and add additional Galaxy features at a later time if they like but I can alspo understand if devs are against this to prevent complaints.

You're probably right. I'm not a Linux gamer myself, but it does seem like a shame that a Linux build of the game exists and for one reason or another it's being kept from this store.

Going back to Dan Adelman's quote about Axiom Verge, it seems as though he believed that Galaxy integration was a requirement. If it really isn't and there are others developers out there with that misconception, perhaps GOG needs to clarify their stance.

Understandable :-)

I once tried to convince the developer of Heroes of HammerWatch to release the game without Multiplayer support for Linux due to lack of Galaxy as it was better than nothing. They didn't give me a yes or no but from their words, I recall they were hesitating because the Linux version would be inferior to the other platforms.

For a game with Multiplayer I can understand it (personally I'll still be mad at them) but for a single player game (such as Project Highrise) I see no reason to deny them an entire game for the lack of some achievements and cloud saving.