Hey, so for some time now i had this problem… I have been buying games from both gog and steam… No drm option is good on gog but there are some festures missing from what steam has, for example being able to buy games from trading cards… What should i do? Focuse on buying games from gog and if there isnt a game then buy it on steam? Or maybe just buy games on steam?
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I just buy where a game I want is on the lowest sale at the moment, but still check if a game is properly updated on gog first, since some games haven’t been updated in a long time on gog.
Tho I try and mostly focus on old games not on steam anymore or indie titles are are updated on parity with the windows release, otherwise I prefer steam, also cause I own a legion go with bazzite installed so it’s easier to play games like that.
Gey, everyone. Thanks for your opinions. Here is what I decided to do. I will mostly buy from gog, if game isn’t on gog then from steam since after considering.
I buy from Steam because of the excellent Linux support, and Steam input.
I buy from GOG because I like owning my games and I like preserving good old games.
Every time I buy a game I make a choice based on those criteria.
I don’t like owning games twice.
The choice isn’t always easy, but that’s OK.
You can get the steam Linux support and steam input by adding your gog games as non steam games or using heroic or lutris or the like. It usually works pretty well.
I use a decision tree to determine which platform to buy from, by going down this list and selecting the first platform that fits my requirements.
- Steam: If the full game is on there, buy. If the game needs an extensive patch to provide all the content, buy from another platform.
- itch: If the full game is on there, buy.
- GOG: If the full game is on there, buy. If the game needs an extensive patch to provide all the content, buy from another platform.
- JAST USA: If the full game is on there, buy.
- DLSite: If the full game is on there, buy.
- DMM: This platform is annoying to buy from since they dislike foreigners. If the full game is on there, buy.
Support GOG. what they’re doing is great.
Support Steam. what they’re doing is great.
Maybe, try to keep it roughly even. Or buy based on your whim. They’re both great.
Gog is if you are married to your philosophical choices, Steam is if you want a platform that keeps expanding
GoG. You actually own the game. Like you used to with discs
No you don’t. Their ToS are very explicit about this. You’re buying licenses, just like on Steam.
This is a bit complex because of the way people define own.
Technically no one but the company who developed the games own the game.
Publishers effectively own it as they usually monopolize the entire licensing control of the game.
Gamers never own but merely have the license to play. This is true even with games from long time ago. While you do own the physical disk, you only license the data inside the disk.
Some people may define ownership of a game by the fact that no one is going to take it away from you. In that way, gog does do that. Since you can download a DRM free version you can install as many times as you want for as along as you want.
If you read the TOS for the vast majority of games you will read that you have also purchased a licence, not ownership, of the game.
Buy on gog if it’s there. Buy on steam otherwise. Keep a pirate copy handy either way.
If you own it on GoG you don’t need a pirate copy - just save the offline installer.
You might want a pirate steam copy if it’s one of the games that isn’t properly updated on gog, which is unfortunately common with newer (2016+) games
Every gimmicky feature on steam is fluff to lock you into an ecosystem. Buying steam games for achievements for example is really silly.
Truth is if you care about a sustainable games industry, then drm free and maximising developer cut is the right choice.
Choose the option that gives the developer the biggest cut, like itch or directly, and just use a launcher aggregator to manage it from one place like heroic launcher or playnite. I personally use gog for most but will use an alternative if it supports the dev better.
For linux support steam is king. Getting gog games working is a bit of an obstacle. Gog really needs to get a linux native client to remove the barrier of entry.
I agree that GOG should put out a Linux client to make things easier, but with Heroic as an alternative, getting the games working is pretty painless. The only thing that sucks there is that Heroic doesn’t update its Proton versions on its own.
Probably less convenient than through steam, but just installing heroic launcher or bottles or lutris or the likes makes that really easy. Most of the games installed on my steam deck are through heroic, same with on my desktop pc. In fact heroic launcher was a significantly better experience for me compared to gog galaxy when I was on Windows.
I don’t consider Steam Input to be a gimmick. I use it to turn my Steam Controller (2015) into a mouse/keyboard like experience on a controller. Setting things up like touch activate gyro with mouse bound to the touchpads and gyro. And then using a combination of modeshifts and chords to shift the touchpads into a set of 5 inputs on edge/center tap and then an additional 5 when holding down the left grip. This lets me keep my thumbs on movement and camera controls throughout the game, and have to rely less on weapon wheels. An example is where I left click on my right to reload, center click to melee, up click to switch to gadget 1, and right click to switch to gadget 2, down click to switch to gadget 3. I also use Steam Input to set a sprint on the outer edge, so I can sprint when I want to instead of having to rely on things like toggle sprint or auto sprint.
And when I use regular dual joystick controllers like the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 Wireless I’ll set the extra bumper button to act as a modeshift to turn the joystick or facebuttons into a dpad as an example, so I don’t have to move my left thumb off the joystick to the dpad and temporarily lose my ability to move. This made Nier Replicant a fun experience for me setting up the dpad to switch between the 3 different weapons during combat while being able to continue to move around. Steam Input also lets me set up mouse input on the gyro while retaining analog triggers without having to bother with the much less feature rich 8bitdo controller app. People have used Steam Input to set up touch activated gyro on the dualsense and used conductive tape to set up touch activated gyro like on the Steam Deck and the upcoming Steam Controller (2026).
Steam Input also has things like touch menus and radial menus, so it can really change the gameplay experience due to being able to set up configs for game actions devs didn’t set it up to do. Like an example is Doom Eternal where people kept asking to be able to bind specific weapons to the facebuttons or dpad so people could quick switch like keyboard users instead of the weapon wheel to bypass reload animation and shoot faster. Devs finally provided that option much much later, but Steam Input users were able to do things like set up a modeshift so holding down the right bumper would shift the facebuttons into something like keyboard keys 1,2,4,4 and behave as regular XYAB when the right bumper isn’t held down without need for devs to change the game.
Steam Input changed the controller experience to one where I don’t use aim assist on controllers, so when most people default to aim assist in games that just goes to show how valuable Steam Input has been for controller users who utilize it and want more from the controller experience beyond default Xbox controller setup. I would enjoy games less if Steam Input went away because of how feature rich it is compared to other controller remappers out there. Gotten to a point where even if I play non Steam games I’m trying to get Steam Input working with it, so I can customize my controller experience.
I use steam input but still purchase games from gog. Just add the game as a non steam game. Heroic and lutris even do it for you.
I just mean that buying games from steam for the gimmicks, like achievements, trading cards, and forums gives you less control over the product your purchasing.
Fixating only on features you don’t care about to argue your point while omitting the features of Steam you find useful due to it not strengthening your position is rather misleading. Steam workshop is another I forgot I have found useful for mods for certain games.
GOG strengths like DRM free and install files are good enough to stand on its own without trying to make it as though Steam’s feature only have things you see as worthless.
My only point is that drm free and a better developer cut are significantly more important than the other stuff.
And yes I chose those specific gimmicks because while steam has useful features it also has features that purely exist to keep you in an ecosystem without actually offering any utility, like achievements, trading cards, steam funds, and other features I mentioned. I happily use steam, but choose to purchase my games DRM free and try to maximise developer cut where I can, but being tricked into using a single store front is not a smart move.
It’s why I pointed out the omission of Steam Input and only focusing on what you find frivolous even though you yourself use Steam Input made your argument seem misleading. That one truthfulness about using Steam Input did end up hurting the initial statement, since it went from what could have been waved off to ignorance or not finding use in it to becoming a sign of intentional removal of information due fear it undermines the main thesis.
It would have been better to state the pros of GOG which can stand on its own. Even now you seem to be undermining the utility of Steam Input choosing to keep highlighting the gimmicks which gives off the sense of still not wanting add to the idea that there is utility Steam provides beyond that. As though gimmicks negate whatever utility is provided.
All I’m saying is it would have been a stronger argument to bring up the utility you find in combination with bring up the negatives you find about Steam, which would have given off a stronger impartiality when it came to your stance conveying to readers you can recognize both the good and the bad. That would have led to a stronger final conclusion than one that seems more overtly one sided.
Thanks for the advice, but the point is still there. In fact to double down on it, I’d still choose using stores that respect the devs and the liberty of consumers over using any of the services steam provides despite their convenience.
Steam can turn on a dime and we have seen what they can be like suspending the accounts of dead older brothers and letting developers abuse their customers. GOG is fundamentally free.
ITT: a lot of people talking about “owning” games on GoG.
Call me old-fashioned, but if you can’t sell it or share it then you don’t own it. Valve does a much better job of communicating what you are actually paying for in my opinion.
Steam is also just a great client. It handles inputs better than anything else I’ve tried. The Linux support is incredible. Remote Play is incredible. The store experience is pretty great. Mod support through the Steam Workshop is great- I always sigh and roll my eyes any time I’m looking into missing a game and find that I need to download random files from a GitHub page or NexusMods.
I have a Steam Deck, and yes I’ve done my share of tinkering and customization under-the-hood with it, but at the end of the day the experience straight out of the box is still my preferred way to go. I’ve seen all these “replacement” UI’s out there people have made and like… It’s really great that it’s possible. It’ll help make sure that the hardware is supported for a long time after Valve has one inevitably moved on. It’s great for times when I want to dive in and tinker with something. But for actually playing games? The stock Steam Deck experience is still the way to go. Everything just… Works.
I hate DRM, but I appreciate how Valve at least identifies games with DRM. There’s a lot of games on my wishlist that regularly go on sale for ridiculously low prices, and I routinely check to see whether they have removed Denuvo yet. Those games usually just aren’t on GoG at all. Sonic Frontiers? Not listed- if Sega ever decides to stop paying Denuvo for that game then on Steam I will see that the next time it goes on sale (I might get an email too since I follow an anti-Denuvo curator, it I’m not 100% sure about that). On GoG it’s just… Maybe I’ll happen to see it featured on the front page as a new addition at some point?
GoG advertises themselves as a carefully curated platform, and that’s not what I want. I want to be able to see all of the games available, have information about them conveyed in a trustworthy and consistent manner, and make my own informed decisions. I admire what GoG does, and I have a handful of games from them, but I don’t think their overall offering compares favorably to Valve.
Of course there’s price. Sales happen on both platforms and it’s good to compare price histories. But even then the MSRP’s and the % discounts are usually standardized across platforms by the publisher with little difference across platforms (unless you’re using a Nintendo device lol).
I try to go GOG first, so I can keep the installation kits offline. There are however a lot of good indies on Steam, and few of these ever get ported from there. Steam workshop is also fantastic and doesn’t really have a match on other platforms, and unlike GOG they provide good linux support. Also worth noting that some of the old games on GOG are inferior to their steam counterparts ( see Commander Keen for example ). So yes, I’d say both are good, but maybe prioritise GOG first.
I’ve been a Steam only buyer for a long time. There are so many cool features and extra stuff, most games work out of the box, and they’ve been putting in a lot of effort on the linux scene with proton and the deck. But even despite all that, I’m starting to move to GOG. The sad truth is that you don’t own any of your games on Steam. I’ve been having more and more games be removed from my library, and games that either just don’t work or are “updated” into something worse. Not Steam’s fault really, but GOG is much more consumer friendly and I actually get files I can use and keep forever, no required updates or DRM. I really like Steam, and am having a hard time leaving it, but GOG is just the better choice from a long term and consumer ethics perspective.
Depends. I’d love to say go with GOG whenever possible but they have some utter shit in their store. Like, old versions of games with bugs that were patched years ago or just plain don’t work. Dragon’s Dogma where online is completely broken comes to mind. So, I guess find out which version is the best on a game-per-game basis? I realize how much of a fucking non-answer this is and I’m sorry to have wasted your time.
If it’s single player I go gog. If it’s multiplayer and there’s at least a 5% chance my friends will get it then I go with steam.
