I believe that steam d*ck is a big threat, it's a powerful strike from valve to close the gap between pc world and console / portable console world
people are going to buy games from steam rather than Gog because if they do then they would not have to buy the same game for the console version
now let's talk here about what makes gog able to compete with steam & epic
why is there a need for other third platform / store to exist ??
To answer the question, Gog must give / deliver / provide something that steam/epic doesn't provide which is the DRM free + some other nice features
and thus we see that Gog successfully be able to compete with the other stores by giving a great "reason" for us
nowadays, we see steam is offering new big "reason" for the folks to come and buy games from it (steam deck)
having your game library in both pc and console is a great deal that Nintendo, Sony, epic doesn't offer and steam, Microsoft is trying to offer slowly
I believe that Gog may / should do 2 things for them to have the reason making them able to compete
first, trying to develop their own custom Linux operating system as gaming OS (maybe galaxy Os ? Like steam OS ?)
there is an opportunity for companies to develop a console hardware for that OS
second, CD project red may definitely make their own steam d*ck alternative / competitor as portable console containing their own gaming operating system

no

GOG has nowhere near the amount of resources needed to even consider this. Even if they had them, or even considering CDPR would be on-board, I don't think getting into the hardware business would be part of their plan. Ultimately, it's a risky move that only behemoths like Valve and Nintendo can gamble on... and, of course, niche players that plan to do this exclusively.

P.S.: The Steam Deck is however, I would say, a direct move from Valve to regain lost market share. If there's anyone who should feel threatened here, it's Epic.

The gaming OS may come first
the hardwired issue come later
every thing has a beginning
+ they could collaborate with a hardware company to make that hardware for them

Wouldn't it be more practible and feasible for GOG to just buy Valve/Steam as a whole? /s

Haha GOG developing a custom OS and creating a console.. when they can't even fix their site or properly hire new staff!
Those goals are impossible for them at the moment. They would fail miserably.
The only reasonable thing is that GOG could (finally) start supporting Linux more, expecially for Galaxy.

Most people have been buying games from Steam instead of GOG ever since GOG was first created. Steam releasing a portable machine has no relevance to that.

If GOG tried to do either or both of those suggestions that you are proposing, then doing that would bankrupt them real quick. How would that help? You do realize that "collaborate" isn't a magic word which means "the hardware company will do free R&D & labor for GOG, out of the goodness of their hearts." Rather, GOG would have to pay them really big bucks, which GOG doesn't have.

[url=
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gogcom_handheld_console/page1]
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gogcom_handheld_console/page1[/url]

''now let's talk here about what makes gog able to compete with steam & epic''

They don't. The fact of the matter is Steam is lightyears ahead of anyone. To focus your crosshairs on Steam as GOG is stupid. If anything, GOG should focus on carving out a section of the market for themselves rather than chasing Steam from about a million miles behind in market share ad resources. Attempting to enter the hardware market would be suicide for GOG.

The Linux point wouldn't be anywhere near enough to have them compete with Steam, but it does GOG's smaller market share and fits their (old?) ideals of preservation. But, i don't think Linux is something they care too much about given they never mention it very much (if at all) anymore, which is a shame.

It's worth remembering Valve likes to try things. Be it creating their own market within their storefront, greenlight, steam link, VR, etc they're an entirely different beast to GOG, on an entirely different level!




*Though I'm sure with the wealth of handheld PC systems popping up all over, there's a good chance you could use offline installers in some form

Most people don't care about owning their games compared to the convenience and huge library Steam offers. If they do, then they're unaware that they don't own them through Steam. The slow shift seems quite painful. Can't. The 2020 PC digital platform was worth $33.5 billion last year. Steam owns like 75%+ of the PC digital market in revenue, so they're seeing revenue of a couple dozen billions. Epic owns ~1.2% being 3 years old with $401M USD last year. GOG owns 0.27% with $91.7M USD last year.

As everyone said, GOG shouldn't be focusing on new ventures. Especially because the Steam Deck is priced at low margins or even possibly a loss leader with the intent to make up in game sales to reach MARR. We've discussed this plenty over here:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gogcom_handheld_console/?search=handheld

What they should do is open-source Galaxy and bring it to Linux so it finally moves forward. The Steam Deck will run Linux so having Galaxy in an environment where Origin, Uplay and Epic don't yet have a presence would be a good move.

My understanding is that you can install and play also GOG games on Steam Deck, and also there are lots of other PC gaming handhelds (GPD Win 3, Aya Neo etc.) where you can as well... so I am unsure what exactly would be the point of releasing a "GOG handheld".

So I fail to see what would be the point of "GOG handheld" and what exactly it would be trying to achieve.

If anything, as long as GOG keeps supporting DRM-free offline installers, that is their best bet people will keep buying games also from GOG, regardless of which kind of PC gaming handheld (or PC in general) they have.

As for Valve, I think Steam Deck is partly made to push Linux, and particularly SteamOS, as an alternative PC gaming OS to Windows. So if anything, this is Valve fighting Microsoft, and the Windows Store. Valve has been afraid of it ever since it appeared with Windows 8, and for a good reason. Windows Store could eventually put Valve out of PC gaming business (and GOG and Epic Store and EA Origin and UPlay as well, or course).

If you already own a game on PC, why would you want to buy the console version in the first place? It's basically always going to be the inferior version of the game. People buy consoles because they are cheaper than gaming PCs, or for exclusives that aren't on PC. If you are fortunate enough to own a PC capable of playing games you can just plug in a controller and you're set.

I honestly don't understand why people are so hyped about the Steam deck; if you really want your games to be portable, surely you could just buy a laptop? I own a Nintendo Switch, but literally only for Switch exclusives. I can't imagine wanting to play my games on that tiny little screen versus a full-sized monitor or television.

No, thanks.

I’m more than happy with the lack of Linux support for Galaxy, preventing GOG to add as much DRM and other vendor lock-in schemes in the Linux build of games compared to what they are doing with the Windows builds.