Why are there still many people investing in Tesla, even so they never made any money and in the foreseeable futrue they won‘t. To me the same thing with Galaxy. They tied their only big title (Witcher 3) to this client and they will only stop Galaxy when they go bankrupt.
This is how I see it and I completely agree with mm324. No proof, no believe, because of their lies with principles in the past. Good old times ... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DzIYJ15CMbk

Sorry my fault. What I meant. Did they advertise Witcher 3 and Galaxy? Wasn‘t the publishing of Galaxy the same day as Witcher 3? And yes, you don‘t need Galaxy to play Witcher 3.

Targeted advertising
Selling user data
Web analytics
Ownership removed from customer
Monopolisation of their product over competitors

The question is what do gog not gain from such a thing. Facebook doesn't even sell anything and makes more than most other websites.

Galaxy left "BETA" right before the Witcher 3 release. Yes, you are correct there.

Ever think that maybe Galaxy is also supposed to be a universal solution to multiplayer and matchmaking services for old games? There once was a lot of talk of "Crossplay" with Steam, but I imagine they hit a snag in the development process.

Galaxy is simply an application that provides a means for downloading and installing a game directly from a GOG account. Galaxy even provides an option to download the installer without installing, and therefore can be set aside as a backup or installed without Galaxy.

Another means is to use the applications that come with a computer operating system by default. A web browser to download from a GOG account on the GOG website. A file browser to find and run the installer. A file browser or an application browser or the operating system to find and run the game.

Because of that it will never matter to me who uses what, or how many uses what. That, and it's GOG's personal interest to be computer engineers and create whatever they want and share it if they want. It's their time and their lives.

All that matters to me is that something works. I think it's great that it's possible to use applications that come with a computer by default, t.i. a web browser, a file browser, etc. And I think it can be nice to have a direct means to do the same thing, like Galaxy, instead of bouncing from application to application.

Just pick the applications that feels most comfortable. For me, downloading an installer and then installing are tasks that both take time. And by the time those tasks are done I'll probably be in the middle of doing something else, therefore not ready to play. So instead, I start the download and then don't worry about when it finishes. Some long time later I'll reacquaint myself with why I downloaded the game by reading up on it (manuals and such intros that comes with a game) and maybe then install it.

While Galaxy would manage both downloading and installing (and rather time efficiently) so the game will be ready for me to play anytime later, that doesn't take into account that I like the opportunity to change my mind between downloading and installing because of whatever (have read, or feel like doing, etc.). So Galaxy is not for me at this point in time, but it would have matched with my approach of installing software a couple of decades ago when I was "absolutely sure" I'd get to it eventually. (I was often wrong and ended up deleting applications I never opened.)

Instead, I download mainly as backups, which coincides nicely with eventual installation when I feel like it. A web browser suffices for that because GOG provides account access with their website.

This is irrelavant. Steam is the biggest dog in town. They show numbers because they are in a powerful position to do so. GOG isn't. Not showing how many people have Galaxy installed or how many GOG accounts there are has nothing to do with wanting to keep data from you, but everything to do with not disclosing how small GOG is in the greater market. If GOG had Steam userbase they would be showing it too.

I really don't know how much more "evidence" one needs. Look at GOG's financial statements. A lot of GOG's revenue last year was tied to Gwent. Gwent is only playable with Galaxy. Hence, it's logical to assume many have installed Galaxy for that reason alone. Witcher 3 had around 700K users using Galaxy at release according to data provided by GOG.

There is also other minor evidence. Lets take a small sample size. I have 122 friends on GOG. Looking at my profile, the vast majority either have time played or achievements being tracked by Galaxy. This means they have at somepoint at the very least downloaded and installed Galaxy. Doesn't confrim more people use Galaxy then those that don't, but we can use small data samples like this to look at trends.

Now you could argue these users that use for Gwent or The Witcher 3 are not "core" GOG users (and by that I mean people who log in regularly or buy from GOG) but that is irrelvant. Galaxy's purpose is to bring in new customers. To be a social hub where you find new games everytime you launch a game. Every new user that installs Galaxy for Gwent, The Wticher 3, or the upcomming Cyberpunk 2077 (to which The Witcher 3 has proven the vast majority will) has lowered the barrier of entry to buying from GOG. This will increase the likleyhood of buying more games from GOG everytime they start the game via Galaxy simply because the store will be front and center to them.