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General discussionIntroducing: GOG Galaxy, the DRM-Free online gaming platform(917 posts)(917 posts)
(917 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 06, 2014
Freedom of choice. Optional client. Cross-play. Coming soon to all gamers!

Earlier today (or was it yesterday for you?), during the [url=http://www.gog.com/news/cd_projekt_red_gogcom_summer_conference]CD Projekt RED and GOG.com’s Summer Conference we dropped the news about our next big step forward! GOG.com has always been home to more and more of the the best games in history (for Windows and Mac), both classic and new. Differing in shapes, flavors, and sizes they had one thing in common: they were mostly single-player, and our focus was mainly on the experience of a singular gamer. If that's your thing, nothing really will change. You can always enjoy your favorite games 100% DRM-free on GOG.com, with no need to activate your game online or remain connected to play your single-player title. Just like GOG.com has always been about.. But what if you want to play with your friends?

Today we are excited to announce GOG Galaxy, a truly gamer-friendly, 100% DRM-free online gaming platform that will finally provide the GOG.com community with the easy option to play together online. GOG Galaxy will allow you to share your achievements, stay in touch with your pals and get the updates for your games automatically. We've developed this technology to improve your GOG.com experience. We think GOG Galaxy really deserves your attention and we hope many of you will give it a try! But, here's the great thing: it is totally optional, so it's all up to you! If you do not want to play online, or use our optional client to access these features, then no worries, you will always be able to play the single-player mode 100% DRM-free, and download manually the latest updated version of your favorite title from our website. Now, for one more feature we call cross-play. We always believed in an open world for gamers, with no obligation to be tied to a specific platform or client; and this is why GOG Galaxy will allow gamers to play with their buddies who use Steam, without any need to use any 3rd party client or account, nothing, nada. We’re taking care of connecting GOG.com and Steam players, so just sit back, relax and give it a try.

See the outtake from the CD Projekt RED & GOG.com Summer Conference

Talking of which, we are proud to announce the soon-to-come launch of the beta phase for The Witcher Adventure Game, a faithful adaptation of the board game of the same title. It allows up to 4 players to play together, whether they use Steam or GOG.com. Cross-play at its finest! If you wanna get the chance to try it out, please visit and sign up to get in the queue for your beta access key. You can also simply take advantage of our amazing [url=http://www.gog.com/tw3]pre-order offer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which includes 2 beta access keys for he Witcher Aventure Game, delivered to you as soon as we start handing them out to public.

We believe GOG Galaxy has the power to provide the best of both worlds. Playing the single player mode of your favorite game, 100% DRM-free, while still having the OPTION to use our soon-to-come client for an enhanced experience (auto-patching, achievements, and much more) or play online with other GOG.com (and Steam) players if you so wish.

There will be more GOG Galaxy titles coming up this year, so stay tuned for more news and get the word around!
Post edited June 06, 2014 by G-Doc
Posted June 06, 2014
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SCPM: I think GOG Galaxy is a fantastic idea, as many publishers and devs claimed that they can't have a GOG release for their games because they 'need' Steam's API for achievements and multi-player. I hope we start seeing big games we missed out on because of those excuses.
Totally agree. Which in turn will give GoG a lot more bargaining power when it comes to acquiring older titles. Even though I'm not too keen on playing some of the newer multiplayer games, the option being there certainly isn't a bad thing no matter what side of the fence you're on.

Just as long as GOG Galaxy isn't going to be like Steam was back in 2004, I'll be good. What a rage inducing piece of shitware Steam was back then :P
Posted June 06, 2014
I have no problem with this, at least if I understand all that I have read correctly. While I don't Steam, and at least for the near future, will probably not be trying or using Galaxy; it certainly sounds a lot like, what many customers here on GOG have been asking for. I'm not a big multi-player gamer, and I really don't mind updating my games manually, so I am happy to see, that in reality, nothing will change for me. But, for my fellow gamers out there looking for these types of services this client offers, I am happy for you. From what I see, I can only say good job GOG. Time will tell of course, but history has shown that if gamers here at GOG are truly unhappy about how Galaxy operates, more than likely GOG will respond and make things right. It's actually kind of nice to know, that if I eventually do dip my feet back into the multi-player aspect of games again sometime down the road, there exists a client I would feel comfortable using.
Posted June 06, 2014
In your face, EA, Ubisoft and Valve!!!

That's how should always be: optional.
Posted June 06, 2014
I'm really curios about this Galaxy thing.
Posted June 06, 2014
Finally! Now Steam will get some real competition. :D

Questions.
1: Will I be able to download and install GOG games through GOG Galaxy like in Steam?
2: Archive them like with the download client?
3: Will the download client be merged with GOG Galaxy?
4: Are the download client going to be supported in the future?
5: Is there a chat function?
6: Does this mean GOG have done a deal with Steam because of Cross - Play? And if so is it probable that there will be future deals with Steam? Thinking a bit about the release and pricing "war" between GOG and Steam here.

Sorry if those questions already have been asked and/or answered but threads like this explode and these threads is basically the only time I go TL: DR.
Posted June 06, 2014
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timppu: You seem to be assuming that there is no online account check even for the multiplayer part. I think there is already now such account check for many of the GOG games with functional multiplayer component, e.g. Race the Sun (I don't recall if it has multiplayer, or if it is mainly just some kind of social leaderboard thing).

It is obvious to me that the client and account login is needed if you want to play online, similarly like on e.g. Steam:
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Pheace: How would this account check work if you didn't buy it on GOG, or even if you did? So you'll get a multiplayer key for your GOG games now then for the Galaxy Client?

I can possibly see an ownership check for Steam games, if your Steam account is linked to Galaxy, since it can check your games list then, but what about the DRM-free variants?

Not to mention this effectively makes the Galaxy client DRM. It seems unlikely somehow.
Again, I am guessing an account based check and not a separate multi-player key. Similar to when you join a Thunderclap and it checks how many followers you have on Tumblr, or friends on Facebook. Similar to when you sign in to SteamGifts and it signs you in through Steam to access stats like how many games you own and what they are worth.

I am not certain, as Galaxy is not released yet and I am by no means a programer nor developer. But I truly cannot imagine that it is that big of a hurdle when there are already sites on the internet that utilize something with a similar functionality.
Posted June 06, 2014
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Melhelix: Again, I am guessing an account based check and not a separate multi-player key.
But which account would it check? GOG account? Steam Account? Humble Account? Amazon Account? Shinyloot Account?

The point is to be able to use it no matter where you bought it.
Posted June 06, 2014
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Melhelix: I'd imagine that it would be a similar check to the user-account game shelf already in play. You can't download from GOG what isn't already tied to your account. So probably, you log in to the client, you choose to play from what you've previously purchased. Other things simply wouldn't be selectable choices? By routing the check through the individual account name there is no need for DRM on the games themselves, unless I'm missing something.
This would be DRM. If the system is DRM-free it must not check wether I own the particular game or not, so it would be totally possible to use a pirated copy for multiplayer. Considering this I really doubt GoG-Galaxy will be as DRM-free as they claim but long as it is optional I don't really mind.
Posted June 06, 2014
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Melhelix: Again, I am guessing an account based check and not a separate multi-player key.
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Pheace: But which account would it check? GOG account? Steam Account? Humble Account? Amazon Account? Shinyloot Account?

The point is to be able to use it no matter where you bought it.
Sure, and nothing would prevent it from checking as many as you wished to and having them all available. I remember Artix Entertainment did a very similar thing when they rolled out Master Accounts. Before you had one account for Adventure Quest, and one for DragonFable, and one for AQW, and one for etc, etc. Then they came out with Master Account or whatever they called it, and you just entered in your username and password for each, once, and they all chained together into the new username. Then you only had to log in once, and you could play any of their games that you had claimed accounts with from the main hub.

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hmcpretender: This would be DRM. If the system is DRM-free it must not check wether I own the particular game or not, so it would be totally possible to use a pirated copy for multiplayer. Considering this I really doubt GoG-Galaxy will be as DRM-free as they claim but long as it is optional I don't really mind.
I'm just throwing out possible options based on what I've seen done in the past. I could be completely wrong! :) I'm actually curious to see which way GOG goes with it.
Post edited June 06, 2014 by Melhelix
Posted June 06, 2014
Repost just in case it gets lost on the other thread:

I've been meaning for years to start up a independent PC gaming project to cater for cross-game multiplayer since Steamworks denied me several titles I really wanted to play, and I think GOG have saved me a lot of work by building Galaxy!

One thing I would like to suggest to you as a feature I was planning would be to borrow the "web of trust" concept from PGP, and to apply it to multiplayer as a way to have expansive non-friends available, yet still avoid having to deal with cheaters, which are certain unless you use DRM to prevent modifying the client software.

On opposite ends of the extremes you have Nintendo's friend lists and PC free-for-alls, and whilst it's nice to be able to trust your friends not to cheat (and you can unfriend them if they do), it's also nice to participate in a global community wider than your circle of friends, and to make new ones using it.

The concept is that you add your friend, who you trust, to your list. You then see scoreboards and matchmake with them, etc. The trick is that all the people they have added (and thus, trust not to cheat) are also available to you as if they were your friends, and all their friends, and so on. 6 degrees of separation and all that jazz.

If someone is found to be secretly cheating, you would expect their friends to unfriend them, and they would drop off the web of matchmaking and leaderboards, etc. If a group of gamers all cheat (or just mod, perhaps) and want to play multiplayer together, then fair enough, they're not hurting anybody, so they can all trust each other but no-one else will trust them, and everybody wins. Kinda like netsplits in IRC, in the sense that there can be multiple logically-separate networks running alongside each other.

There are obvious kinks to iron out (i.e. what if your friend refuses to unfriend the cheater for some reason? Do you block the cheater somehow yourself (and thus anyone from their web of trust) or do you have to unfriend your friend as you can't trust their choice of friends anymore?) I think the former would work well, personally - and it would only take a few people to do (i.e. the people that added them directly) and the cheater would drop of the web naturally, so it's self-policing.

...but yeah...worth a go, I reckon. Discuss! :)
Post edited June 06, 2014 by mr_jrt
Posted June 06, 2014
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Pheace: The point is to be able to use it no matter where you bought it.
My guess is that GOGGalaxy checks if you have the game on GOG, and GOGGalaxy itself offers access to Steamworks. If you have the game on Steam, Steamworks connects to GOGGalaxy, not yourself. So Steamworks gives the ok, but instead of checking only Steamworks network, it checks Steamworks + GOGGalaxy. Unsure how the retail games would fit in, though my guess would be that the GOGGalaxy API allows connections, but it's up to the retail API on how they authenticate.

At this point it's just speculation though.
Posted June 06, 2014
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Tarm: Finally! Now Steam will get some real competition. :D

Questions.
1: Will I be able to download and install GOG games through GOG Galaxy like in Steam?
2: Archive them like with the download client?
3: Will the download client be merged with GOG Galaxy?
4: Are the download client going to be supported in the future?
5: Is there a chat function?
6: Does this mean GOG have done a deal with Steam because of Cross - Play? And if so is it probable that there will be future deals with Steam? Thinking a bit about the release and pricing "war" between GOG and Steam here.

Sorry if those questions already have been asked and/or answered but threads like this explode and these threads is basically the only time I go TL: DR.
1. yes
2. don't know, but I would assume yes as the new client will completely replace the current downloader
3. yes
4. with patches? no. via gog's support? unlikely, but this is unclear. they might just tell you to update and use that.
5. yes.
6. interesting, isn't it? this is not clear and they haven't said so far. but if gog can interface with Steam then there must be some level of inter-company cooperation here. how far it extends is unclear. personally I think the new client is an extension or subset of the steam API.
Posted June 06, 2014
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Pheace: How would this account check work if you didn't buy it on GOG, or even if you did? So you'll get a multiplayer key for your GOG games now then for the Galaxy Client?

I can possibly see an ownership check for Steam games, if your Steam account is linked to Galaxy, since it can check your games list then, but what about the DRM-free variants?

Not to mention this effectively makes the Galaxy client DRM. It seems unlikely somehow.
I think I already covered that in my previous answer. Of course we are just guessing at this point, but I'm just using common sense at this point.

So yes, the online multiplayer part would have DRM, ie. requiring you to log in to your account and checking if you are eligible to play the game (online). The single-player part would remain DRM-free, at least when run without the client. Up until now, the "solution" on GOG has been that the single-player part has been DRM-free, and the online multiplayer part has been cut out completely on the GOG version.

Maybe it will be something different, but that is how I am expecting it to work with the little info we have. And no, I personally never gave rat's ass whether the online multiplayer part of a game has online validity check (=DRM), because:

a) You'll have to be online anyway to play online (duh!)
b) If the authentication/multiplayer servers are offline, then the multiplayer part would be useless anyway, even if there was no DRM online check.

I care for the single-player part remaining DRM-free, because that's in practice the only independent part of the game anyway. I happily played yesterday both TeamFortressClassic and TeamFortress2 multiplayer online even though they practically have always-online DRM. I know though that at some point in time those online multiplayer games will become unplayable, just because the multiplayer servers will be taken offline.

The Humble Bundle Android client probably gives a good idea how it will probably work (overall, not just multiplayer). If you want to install, launch and play your HB Android games with the client, then you basically have DRM, as you will have to log into the client, and it will not run any HB game that you don't own.

However, since the HB Android client is optional, you can also install and run those same games without the client, DRM-free. The single-player part, that is.
Posted June 06, 2014
Even though I don't really do multi-player, I think this is a great initiative by GOG. Not only does it cover the wishes of a lot of folks here who do want a multi-player solution, but it crosses the boundaries of services in a way that I truly hope is a success. And I'm looking forward to some of the other features of the service, so I say bring it forth!
Posted June 06, 2014
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Pheace: The point is to be able to use it no matter where you bought it.
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JMich: My guess is that GOGGalaxy checks if you have the game on GOG, and GOGGalaxy itself offers access to Steamworks. If you have the game on Steam, Steamworks connects to GOGGalaxy, not yourself. So Steamworks gives the ok, but instead of checking only Steamworks network, it checks Steamworks + GOGGalaxy. Unsure how the retail games would fit in, though my guess would be that the GOGGalaxy API allows connections, but it's up to the retail API on how they authenticate.

At this point it's just speculation though.
Steam I can see working, they have a system set up where you can log into a 3rd party site and share your games information. But places like Amazon don't as far as I know. I can't imagine the end result being that Galaxy games can only be sold on Steam/GOG, so there has to be more to it. Either there's something that links the game to GOG or the Galaxy client, or there's no ownership check.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionIntroducing: GOG Galaxy, the DRM-Free online gaming platform(917 posts)(917 posts)
(917 posts)