There is no GoG Galaxy client for Linux.

There are a couple of games that I can think of that have Linux support on Steam but not on GoG. Metro Redux and Last light, the other is Dying Light. Metro Exodus is getting a Linux version I understand.

I would prefer to buy my Linux games here but I have to admit there are better choices elsewhere.

How difficult is it to ensure that games can run native on multiple platforms other than through Wine?

It's a pity indeed, but I guess Gog doesn't have enough budget to care :\

Contact the developer(s)/publisher(s). GOG (or any other store) doesn't do any (native) porting.

In most cases where Steam has a linux build that GoG doesn't it's because there is separate licensing required for the linux build that GoG hasn't been able to get. There are a couple of companies that do linux ports that are big fans of DRM and aren't likely to allow a release here.

Licensing is a complex thing. Just because GoG is licensed to sell one version of a game it doesn't mean they can sell any version of the game.

I still find this very telling...

Steam user survey in October 2019 showed all versions of Linux put together as still being less than 1% of users. There's no money in putting a big focus on Linux.

When you say 'still' support Linux, has it ever actually supported Linux?

I mean, I just hopped on here from Steam that has a native Linux client and a WINE fork that allows to click "Play" and play games.

Here, I need to WINE the damned GOG downloader for offline installers...Then WINE the installer....Then finally WINE the game.

whine whine WINE whine

wtf is this

Lutris helps a bit though, you can (you guessed it) WINE Galaxy and get games working through that instead.

Still an utter mess.

Exactly. Linux is not big enough to be a main driver, windows will be the main platform for a long time. I do not say this as a windows fanboy, it’s simply the way things are. There is nothing stopping you dual booting, virtual imaging etc.
Unfortunately it sounds more and more like Linux users whinging about how hard done by they are. It’s your choice and not forced upon you. Sure windows is crap, and that is why there is lots of guides and scripts out there, but it is the big supported platform, your choice! Me, I have win 10 main, win 7, mint dual boot, plus images for xp etc. Never has there been such a wide variety and always of use set of os as now!
As for no client, think yourself lucky!

There ARE good Linux installers for the games! Those installers work. What GOG really doesn't do is "take Linux seriously". This essentially means - putting stress (yes, stress) on developers to fix the bugs in Linux version. I have encountered several developers that sell games here that have critical bugs in SUPPLIED Linux version. However, GOG will offer you a refund if you contact them on this; yet this is a path to nowhere in terms of actually making Linux versions run. There is A LOT of Linux experts on GOG forum which would sure help fixing those bugs, but GOG has to make them connect with developers; yet right now GOG does is packaging what is provided, and GOG packaging does work. but the contents are often broken.

Steam is DRM, so you can't really compare it to GOG. Compare something that also provides DRM-free proprietary games. I think Humble Bundle does much less than GOG here, it often doesn't even provide installers. Hahahaha! "Not-forced" xDDD

You know what? I think RedHat should buy Microsoft, then bleed it to death like Microsoft bleeded Nokia. And burn the ashes. ;) Then we should talk about "not-forced" etc etc.

The reason why its so difficult with Linux is precisely because of MS and to much smaller degree - Apple. Analysis doesn't work the way you do it - you should not only focus on the subject, but also on its background and other players to get complete picture. That said, proprietary sharks behavior is perfectly predictable, they focus on the profit at any cost.

I used to just use the web for offline downloads, and now I use lgogdownloader. Never used wine for the download, and if I did need that, I would've avoided gog.

As to the installer, there are some people here who write installer scripts that use innoextract so you don't have to use wine to install the game, either. I don't see that as a big deal, though. The only time it sort of annoys me is with scummvm and dosbox games, since they do package other scummvm and dosbox games with Linux-native versions.

Yes, both are user-supplied solutions rather than gog-supplied solutions, but the only thing you need wine for is to actually play the game (and in some cases, there are actually 3rd party Linux-native binaries you can obtain, such as for Jagged Alliance 2 and Oriental Empires.

I'm curious about using the web to download offline installers. I don't know much about GOG, but it seemed to me it's not possible just to download files - it's just possible with gog downloader? Which is a windows executable.

I just had the worst experience with installing Witcher 3. I think it beats out any triple DRM game installed through Steam+Uplay/Origin+Denuvo/other random DRM. This was already a readymade and tested script from Lutris, by the way, and it used the offline installers. The installation itself took ages (after the download) - I'm talking about 45 minutes to an hour or so on a good rig. I thought DRM-free meant less hassle...

Thanks for letting me know about the 3rd party tools - it's the first time I've heard about them. The gogdownloader for linux is essential to start with.

But actually, my preferred future method for installing games on GOG will be to WINE/Lutris GOG Galaxy, and then let it install and update the games through there. WINE'ing the manual update was almost the last straw ;)

Sorry for the rant - it's just been a while since I had such an experience getting a modern game to run, even on linux. I don't actually mind too much to fiddle with things to get stuff running - I'm just worried about my recent decision to renounce Steam and move onto GOG thinking it would be a smooth transition...

Linux is most comfortable distributive. Why they don't have to support it?

Well, you just visit your account page/game shelf (used to be the default if you clicked your name, but now you have to select Games if you're not using a web hack to fix that), click on the game you want to download, ignore the big galaxy install button, and click on each listed game under "DOWNLOAD OFFLINE BACKUP GAME INSTALLERS" to download. Nothing to it, really.

I highly recommend lgogdownloader, though, as it easily downloads everything, and like other download managers, can do it in parallel. It can also do Galaxy-like downloads, although I've never tried them and don't know the limitations. Being open source means you can also fix it if it doesn't work to your liking. If you only have a few games, it might not be worth it, though.

DRM-free doesn't necessarily mean less hassle. Steam really does a lot more for Linux users than anyone else. However, since I refuse to use a closed-source mandatory client to download games, Steam, and even your solution (to use Galaxy) won't ever be for me.

I also never used Lutris, so I can't comment. The gog users I was referring to are vv221 with ./play.it (see e.g. the Witcher 3's installer) and adamhm's wine wrappers. I have my own convoluted way of doing games and wine, so I don't use either of these, but a lot of people seem to like them.

In my opinion GOG's support Linux passive, minimal way.

Oh, you developed game and made build for Linux? And its even work? Really? You want to release it too? Well, if you really want i guess we can...

If developers says "no, no linux" or "not on gog" they just accept it. Its kinda similar to Humble Bundle nowdays, which no longer push for Linux.

Things said, i think GOG had certain hopes and expectations for Linux gaming audience, which didnt meet their expectation. They probably hoped for Linux folks to flee on GOG, but GOG's Linux start was meh - most of games they released in initial push was already seen on Humble and over time its just...stalled.

Nowdays, if i dont see first day release of Linux support on GOG its usually means there will not be any. For some games its not true and build did arrived (like We happy Few which i never expected to keep promises), but many games, especially one who on GOG for long time its lost call.