MasterW: Does anyone know if there are plans to release X4 on GoG at the same time as the Steam release? We have all previous X-games but it requires a few years of waiting before they become available, which kinda sucks.
The game is available to pre-order on GoG now.
Themken: Not surprised as it was expected. They will bring it here 2021 or so... :-( My earlier optimism was groundless.
Good news, you can pre-order the game from GoG now. Release date of Nov 30.
Themken: Well, their last game,
https://store.steampowered.com/app/570420/X_Rebirth_VR_Edition/ , still has not come here but maybe it will when X4 is released or maybe not if the Oculus Rift is impopular as the HTC Vive is Steam only.
Games that use SteamVR don't actually have to require steam client in of itself. SteamVR is actually an open source API and it doesn't require Steam Client at all. This is why games like Overload and Hellblade on GoG both work with SteamVR without even having Steam Client even installed.
SteamVR is actually called OpenVR, and you can get the SDK from github that Valve posted
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr So, Egosoft could put Xrebirth VR on GoG if they wanted to, since Steam Client is not needed anyways to run SteamVR (openVR)
DalekSec: Keeping in mind that they not released the game yest and that they are already announcing two DLC's, I prefer that it come to GoG(sic) when the FULL game (base+DLC's) is available at a reasonable prize.
Alm888: The answer is simple: they are cash-strapped and basically lack funds to make the "whole" game. It is no secret that the base game will be just a chassis for the main content that will(?) follow later. It will(?) be a while before the developers will add all races and ships from the old X-es (pre-"Rebirth").
The question marks are to denote the possibility of the game flopping and the developer studio shutting down. Sadly, I won't give them money before DRM-free release (not necessary on GOG).
Themken: Well, their last game,
https://store.steampowered.com/app/570420/X_Rebirth_VR_Edition/ , still has not come here but maybe it will when X4 is released or maybe not if the Oculus Rift is impopular as the HTC Vive is Steam only.
Alm888: Not surprising, honestly.
Now it seems yet another attempt at VR failed to get traction (the hardware is too expensive, too cumbersome, too tiring and the games are generally just "not here"). Between "HTC Vive" (obviously Steam exclusive as it is basically a Valve product), "Oculus Rift" (wich is just PoS from the scammers -- remember their Kickstarter Linux scam!), "PlayStation VR" (guess what? Another brand-exclusive!) and "Windows Mixed Reality" (Another brand-exclusive, yay! :D ) it seems the technology is simply not developed/standardized enough. As much as I dislike Valve, it is the only company that actually makes any attempts at providing open vendor-independent API for VR/AR (OpenVR). It is just "Valve Time". :)
And the GOG? Well,
the GOG is not involved.
It is no wonder EGOSoft decided to limit their technology-testing hack of the engine-testing side game to the single store and single OS. This wasn't meant for general use, only for some expos. And I highly doubt "X: Rebirth VR Edition" will ever leave Steam (or its "alpha-version" state).
Just want to let you know, that X4 is now on GoG.com, set to release on Nov 30th.