News GOG Galaxy adds Epic Games Store integration

To me at least, one of the best things about GOG has always been that you don't have to use Galaxy to install/play the games. If I had the choice I wouldn't use any launchers, but having it all in one place would be nice. Even though I'm sure there are quite a few downsides as well.

 

Two actually.

1: Steam, Epic, Uplay, Origin and GoG are the ones it can currently manage your downloads and updates for... which is nowhere near comprehensive, still needs integration for others like itch.io, bethesda, twitch etc.
2: You can't actually uninstall the other clients as they are required for it to work properly.

 

Surely they're not active downsides just things that could be improved?

If the comparison is you have all the clients or you try to use galaxy for everything.
Using galaxy has some upsides, maybe a downside I know of is the clients breaking sometimes so you have to open steam manually anyway, which is annoying because it can leave you being confused as you were sure you had installed x game only for it not to appear, but at least it gives you a hint as to what client you own the game on, instead of having to randomly open them until you find it maybe.

 

Don't get me wrong, on balance gog galaxy is still the best download / update manager for your games collection.

Needing the other clients can only be fixed by the game developers though (for example the Assassins Creed games can never be launched without Uplay being installed as that requirement is coded into the games themselves as part of the DRM).

 

And all of the above is part of the reason why I just enjoy playing Diablo 2 so much. No launcher, no always online, no friends list/social aspect, just a great game I can enjoy whenever I want.

 

I've personally never really understood the issue with launchers, but I did previously dislike the idea of linking accounts, however I switched to using Galaxy for all my games recently and like it, don't see why I wouldn't carry on using it assuming it doesn't get any worse and ideally keeps improving.

 

Not to suck console d*ck too hard, but take the PS4 for example:
One single library for every game on the platform with a simple install button and when switched on every single installed game is updated automatically without me having to remember a single url, use bookmarks or remember logins.

I'd guess a lot of frustration with the various launchers on PC is due to how hard they fail to replicate that experience...

Needing multiple launchers
Needing multiple logins
Inconsistent login systems (why can't they just all use the generic authenticator app for 2FA?, Why is the Origin login system so borked that it makes you want to kill yourself?)
Some clients having poor download scheduling and throttling options
Some clients having a piss poor UI design that fails to exploit the benefits of widescreens (and that includes some that launched well after widescreens became the norm)
And that list isn't even remotely exhaustive.

 

I mean some of that I can agree with (origin fails so hard when you want to use the same account on multiple pcs, having to relogin all the time!), but some of it (e.g. needing multiple launchers, still an improvement to having each game in control of it individually for me) can't really get behind.

I guess I just find it weird people have enough energy or care about it enough to sometimes really moan about it, like the whole I'll wait until I can buy x game on steam rather than just buy it on epic or origin or wherever, I mean ok sure, but surely nobody cares .

Would they rather just have individual download links they have to keep track of in their emails? (genuine question)

 

I launch everything from the nvidia geforce experience.

(Joking... or am I?)

 

I totally agree. All you need to do is remember which platform you bought it on and that can't be too hard. Although I do have a download spreadsheet where I have to keep track of the hundreds of bundles and freebies I've accumulated. to avoid paying for dupes. One library would be easier.

Two questions I have though:

• Are the community integrations THAT secure? Bit reluctant to give out all my logins
• Would GOG see fit/eventually be able to scan all stores for cheapest deals when looking to purchase new? Good competition encouragement if so

 

Community integrations (The ones listed by default in GoG Galaxy) just use the regular APIs provided by Steam etc, so are no more or less secure than those launchers are.

If you go and add extra community integrations though then you are f**ked in terms of security as they haven't been vetted and could be anything.

 

If I remember rightly, GOG define the first of what you say as "official" integrations and the second bunch as "community". That does answer my question though - I think I'll hold off in that case.

 

They have no reason to exist beyond pretending to fulfil a purpose while showing you ads for the games they are selling.

Nobody wants a Browser Launcher that you need to load before you can launch Firefox or Chrome or Edge or Palemoon or whatever. Nobody wants an Office Launcher that you need to load before you can launch Word or OpenOffice or Sublime or Vim. They have zero reason to exist. Yet games? They get treated like some magical delicate unicorn which cannot be launched like any other program installed on your computer, oh no!,they must be delicately corralled and petted only within the safe confies of the shop you bought it from, and can't possibly be allowed to perform functions every other program manages to handle themselves, like version updates. My goodness, if people realised you can just download and install a game like any other program then they might get the ridiculous idea that you could purchase your games directly from developers without giving anyone else a cut. Can't be having that!

 

If I owned 50+ office programs (and each office program was completely separate) all sold by different people and somebody offered a way to view them all at once etc, I would want that, but maybe I'm in the minority iunno

I mean I get annoyed enough when I have to reinstall programs and waste time finding login details to sites I rarely need to access or emails with links in, if I had to do that for games I wouldn't play many games. Physical copies were fine, didn't have a problem having a collection of those, my drawer became the launcher, but digital no thanks.

And don't get me wrong, I like the fact there are multiple launchers, for competition, since it's still so much less faff than me having to sort it all out, if there was only steam I would be less happy with the situation.

Edit:
Good example being me having to update Xilinx Vivado this evening, can't remember if I do it from within the program or have to go to the site and manually do it because it doesn't happen often, for me even a launcher just with vivado stuff I'd download and that's only 3 separate programs I'm using!

 

Because you want to create an account on the website of every small indy dev, trust them to keep download servers running for years to come etc...

So yeah, one unified download and update manager like Gog Galaxy is infinitely more user friendly.

 

Ah, but what I would say here is that with the several hundred games I own, I can't have them all installed permanently (so that I can see their folders/launcher icons), or laid out in a pretty way so that I can see what my choices are. Or tag and sort them nicely (although I do concede that this could be done in clumsy fashion in Win Explorer). There may be a solution to this, but I've not found it.

Plus I'd end up forgetting what I had bought. Steam etc. keeps it all in one place and if I ignore the ads etc. and don't go looking in the store, then opening Steam (minus the delay on my older machines) is no different to opening a desktop folder with hundreds of unsorted, picture-less launchers before selecting one.

And if I was ever THAT fussed about clicking the desktop icon for the latest half-dozen I'm playing at the moment (should that be the situation), then I can install a shortcut to desktop.

 

Just thought of something else, actually - if devs ever did offer direct sales (and I'm assuming it's marketing that's the hurdle here), you can always add non-GOG/Steam games to exactly those platforms. Job done.

 

Been using it for a couple of days. Within the limits imposed by the various stores it seems about as good as it could be. The UI is nice and it does everything it can to streamline/integrate something that really isn't designed to be. Even things like closing the client necessary to launch the game after you finish is included.

It's something of a revelation to be able to browse all those freebees and bundled games that tend to get forgotten about on a store that you only ever launch (and update) in order to claim said games.