I was looking at this game, https://www.gog.com/game/sniper_ghost_warrior_contracts
and the reviews slammed it for something called EAC. It said it was not DRM per se, but it may have spyware, bloatware, and other issues.

I thought GOG tested the games prior to release?

And is this game safe to purchase now?

GOG, has the EAC been removed, and is this safe to purchase? And how can I tell if other games have it, or am I overreacting?

EAC = Easy Anti Cheat. It's not "DRM" but it is still undesired bloatware / potential spyware (anti-cheat programs work often by examining parts of your system outside of the game, eg, what .exe's are running, registry keys, taking random screenshots (that if running the game in a window / background could potentially include sensitive personal data, etc). List of games that use it is here. Whether or not EAC does that and whether or not the GOG specific versions of games use it, or perhaps it's been stripped out along with multi-player just for GOG is something that only owners of the games here can tell (I don't own this game in question to test).

As for GOG, they probably did test it but their official policy is "no DRM" not "no crapware" / "no spyware" which is why they unfortunately still allow a lot of developer bundled in-game "not DRM" junk from unwanted Unity Engine telemetry to half-functional SecuROM in FEAR 1 expansions that still constantly scan your system for what programs you are running in the background...

Tanks to you both for the great explanations. Appreciated!

That's strange, usually these kind of anti cheat come with a separate install setup.