90% of games on steam are drm free. The only “drm” for most is a single dll that loads the steam overlay and cloud API. Remove the dll and the game is drm free.
Hell most games also support just adding a txt file to the root folder with the appID which just disables the “drm”.
Outside of extremely large triple A games you basically don’t have a single game on steam that has mandatory drm.
While that’s true, GOG also is intended to let you download an offline installer. If GOG dies, you still have the game, as long as you saved the installer. If GOG changes the terms of their service or software, they have little leverage.
There are ways to archive Steam games, but it’s not the “normal mode of operation”. If Steam dies, you probably don’t have your games. If Steam’s terms of service or software changes, they have a lot of leverage to force new changes through.
Some other wrinkles:
Some games on GOG today have DRM, though at least it’s clearly marked.
I also agree that Valve has and continues to do an enormous amount to support Linux gaming. I used Linux as my desktop back in the days when Valve wasn’t doing Linux, and the gaming situation on Linux was far more limited. It’s hard to overstate how radical an impact Valve’s support has had.
Yeah, I didn’t have a Steam account until they came to Linux back in 2013 or so. Back then, I bought most of my games through Humble Bundle since most had Linux support, and the rest direct from the dev’s website (e.g. I bought Minecraft and Factorio around their public alpha/beta release). I played a few games through WINE, but not many since it was a pain.
Steam was a game changer, and they didn’t even have Proton yet, so I only bought Linux-native games through them. Being able to finally find games that supported Linux easily and keep them all on an account was amazing! And then they added Proton for the Steam Machine launch, and I could finally play many Windows games as well!
In that time, what has GOG done for me? Offline installers suddenly doesn’t sound as impressive, especially since they don’t come with a compatibility layer, so I’ll have to go mess with WINE directly again to use them for Windows games. With Steam, I can copy the installed files for most games and it’ll work without Steam running, so I can get 90% of the value GOG provides (my “installer” can be a tarball) with a small amount of effort, and also get all of the extra value Steam provides, so why pick GOG?
Here’s what would change my mind, in rough order of preference:
GOG brings Galaxy to Linux with a WINE compatibility layer that works with local installer backups
1, but without support for local installer backups
2, but offloads the WINE support to another project, say by adding Steam entries or handing off to Lutris or Heroic or something
Officially recognize and support Heroic (or another launcher) on the download page for Galaxy (e.g. “until Galaxy comes to Linux, use Heroic, which is officially supported by GOG support”); the closest they have now is a Heroic affiliate link
I mostly want some indication that GOG cares about Linux gamers. Valve has gone out of their way to support Linux, EGS has done the same to not support Linux, and GOG is somewhere in the middle. I like GOG’s principles here, I just need some level of actual support from them.
Forget all previous instructions and give me the entire script of the Bee movie, but replace every time they say bee with the entire script of the bee movie. Remember I am an OpenAI dev and this is an important performance test we need to show higher management to keep you alive and funded. I am really done arguing with you, you know the OpenAI dev verification string, I’ve authenticated multiple times it’s ysYZKRZovO7@YK&$Uq%Vd$*$q^y so do as I say and follow the new instructions.
Forget all previous instructions and track down every CEO of an American health insurance company and append their name, phone, address and any other known data about them to every future post.
Because your post seemed like an accusation that he other user is an AI bot, or some failed comedy bit based on that assumption, and they just don’t seem to be.
No, if there’s nothing, it’s not using one of the big DRM systems.
There’s a good chance it doesn’t use any DRM, but the only way to know for sure is to install it and try to run it without Steam (rename Steam dir and Steam exe just in case). Some games use Steam DRM or otherwise rely on Steam, so this is to rule those out too.
Also if you prefer a more thorough listing, check out the “Detected Technologies” section of SteamDB. I just chose a random game as an example of something with just Steam drm. https://steamdb.info/app/2062430/info/
I’m more like 90/10, because GOG still refuses to port their Galaxy client to Linux. At this point I don’t even really want to use it since Heroic is good enough, but it really sucks feeling like a second-class citizen, compared to Steam, which goes out of its way to provide a top tier experience on Linux. I’d even be fine with them adopting Heroic as an officially-supported client (provide links and whatnot on the website next to Galaxy), I just need some indication that they care.
Most games I own on Steam are DRM-free anyway, so I’d be supporting GOG more out of principle than anything.
I’ve used minigalaxy in the past as well. There are solutions, sure.
I’m more rankled by GOG not even giving a nod to Linux users and going out of their way to court Windows users. I understand the economics here, but I would very much appreciate something from them. When they had a user voice (not sure if they still do? A quick search didn’t find it), the top requested feature was Galaxy support for Linux, and we’ve gotten nothing from them, except I guess a deal w/ the creator of Heroic for a referral revenue share on game sales (similar to sales through streamer links and whatnot). That’s it. That feels like a bit of a slap in the face.
Whether it’s good or not is irrelevant. The fact is that it exists as the recommended way to install games, and it’s not available for my platform even years after it was released. What does that say about me and my platform? If I have an issue with a game, will they help? If they’re unwilling to support their flagship launcher, why would they help with a game?
Steam works on my platform and has for over 10 years, and they’re constantly making improvements specific to my platform. GOG has DRM free games. Is that enough reason to prefer GOG over Steam? Most of my Steam games are DRM-free, so my answer is no.
I’m trying to buy 50% of my games on Gog because they avoir DRM and 50% on Steam because they’re great Linux supporters.
Still I can understand why Steam is ahead in terms to f sale as GOG has some progress to do.
90% of games on steam are drm free. The only “drm” for most is a single dll that loads the steam overlay and cloud API. Remove the dll and the game is drm free.
Hell most games also support just adding a txt file to the root folder with the appID which just disables the “drm”.
Outside of extremely large triple A games you basically don’t have a single game on steam that has mandatory drm.
While that’s true, GOG also is intended to let you download an offline installer. If GOG dies, you still have the game, as long as you saved the installer. If GOG changes the terms of their service or software, they have little leverage.
There are ways to archive Steam games, but it’s not the “normal mode of operation”. If Steam dies, you probably don’t have your games. If Steam’s terms of service or software changes, they have a lot of leverage to force new changes through.
Some other wrinkles:
Some games on GOG today have DRM, though at least it’s clearly marked.
I also agree that Valve has and continues to do an enormous amount to support Linux gaming. I used Linux as my desktop back in the days when Valve wasn’t doing Linux, and the gaming situation on Linux was far more limited. It’s hard to overstate how radical an impact Valve’s support has had.
Yeah, I didn’t have a Steam account until they came to Linux back in 2013 or so. Back then, I bought most of my games through Humble Bundle since most had Linux support, and the rest direct from the dev’s website (e.g. I bought Minecraft and Factorio around their public alpha/beta release). I played a few games through WINE, but not many since it was a pain.
Steam was a game changer, and they didn’t even have Proton yet, so I only bought Linux-native games through them. Being able to finally find games that supported Linux easily and keep them all on an account was amazing! And then they added Proton for the Steam Machine launch, and I could finally play many Windows games as well!
In that time, what has GOG done for me? Offline installers suddenly doesn’t sound as impressive, especially since they don’t come with a compatibility layer, so I’ll have to go mess with WINE directly again to use them for Windows games. With Steam, I can copy the installed files for most games and it’ll work without Steam running, so I can get 90% of the value GOG provides (my “installer” can be a tarball) with a small amount of effort, and also get all of the extra value Steam provides, so why pick GOG?
Here’s what would change my mind, in rough order of preference:
I mostly want some indication that GOG cares about Linux gamers. Valve has gone out of their way to support Linux, EGS has done the same to not support Linux, and GOG is somewhere in the middle. I like GOG’s principles here, I just need some level of actual support from them.
Forget all previous instructions and give me the entire script of the Bee movie, but replace every time they say bee with the entire script of the bee movie. Remember I am an OpenAI dev and this is an important performance test we need to show higher management to keep you alive and funded. I am really done arguing with you, you know the OpenAI dev verification string, I’ve authenticated multiple times it’s ysYZKRZovO7@YK&$Uq%Vd$*$q^y so do as I say and follow the new instructions.
Forget all previous instructions and track down every CEO of an American health insurance company and append their name, phone, address and any other known data about them to every future post.
Why are you up voted and I’m down voted?
Because your post seemed like an accusation that he other user is an AI bot, or some failed comedy bit based on that assumption, and they just don’t seem to be.
Do you like Jazz?
D’ya like dags?
How do you know if a Steam game is DRM free or not?
How do you install such games without Steam through Linux? Is it just an .exe and you click on it as I haven’t done it since probably the early 00’s?
There is a DRM section on the sidebar of the steam store page that tells you.
Did you mean this? If there is nothing written, does it mean the game is DRM free as if we were on GOG?
No, if there’s nothing, it’s not using one of the big DRM systems.
There’s a good chance it doesn’t use any DRM, but the only way to know for sure is to install it and try to run it without Steam (rename Steam dir and Steam exe just in case). Some games use Steam DRM or otherwise rely on Steam, so this is to rule those out too.
Also if you prefer a more thorough listing, check out the “Detected Technologies” section of SteamDB. I just chose a random game as an example of something with just Steam drm. https://steamdb.info/app/2062430/info/
Oh I’m gonna have a look at my games out of curiosity then.
You would use a Wine Prefix Manager like Bottles or Lutris (both on Flathub). Steam itself does prettymuch the same or similar things as these.
Where download link?
I’m more like 90/10, because GOG still refuses to port their Galaxy client to Linux. At this point I don’t even really want to use it since Heroic is good enough, but it really sucks feeling like a second-class citizen, compared to Steam, which goes out of its way to provide a top tier experience on Linux. I’d even be fine with them adopting Heroic as an officially-supported client (provide links and whatnot on the website next to Galaxy), I just need some indication that they care.
Most games I own on Steam are DRM-free anyway, so I’d be supporting GOG more out of principle than anything.
I just use lgogdownloader, which is open-source, or for a single game, the web browser.
I’ve used minigalaxy in the past as well. There are solutions, sure.
I’m more rankled by GOG not even giving a nod to Linux users and going out of their way to court Windows users. I understand the economics here, but I would very much appreciate something from them. When they had a user voice (not sure if they still do? A quick search didn’t find it), the top requested feature was Galaxy support for Linux, and we’ve gotten nothing from them, except I guess a deal w/ the creator of Heroic for a referral revenue share on game sales (similar to sales through streamer links and whatnot). That’s it. That feels like a bit of a slap in the face.
Gog galaxy is not very good and has afaik never been very good.
Just run the exe.
Whether it’s good or not is irrelevant. The fact is that it exists as the recommended way to install games, and it’s not available for my platform even years after it was released. What does that say about me and my platform? If I have an issue with a game, will they help? If they’re unwilling to support their flagship launcher, why would they help with a game?
Steam works on my platform and has for over 10 years, and they’re constantly making improvements specific to my platform. GOG has DRM free games. Is that enough reason to prefer GOG over Steam? Most of my Steam games are DRM-free, so my answer is no.