Free GOG.com Copies of Some Steam Games

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I spotted an announcement about GoG Connect over at Blue's News today that I think most of you will find interesting. Apparently GoG Connect is offering DRM-free versions of certain games that you've already purchased on Steam. It's free, doesn't cost you a penny and, to make things more interesting, GoG says they have plans for more games in the future (currently there are 22 games listed).

GOG.com unveils GOG.com Connect, which offers customers DRM-free versions of eligible games they previously purchased on Steam at no additional cost. They say other games may become available like this in the future, and they kick things off with a list of 22 games that can be imported if you already own them. This will be permanent, though you have only five days to connect your account and claim your copies. Word is they will offer additional titles in the future: "You'll be able to permanently import all the games listed below to your GOG.com library – assuming you own them.
 
Anyone know if the GOG version of Saints Row 2 runs properly on faster CPU?
I played the Steam version, which is really glitchy with a fast CPU (using Cheat Engine to slow it down fixes it, but I'd rather not have to bother with something like that)
 
Anyone know if the GOG version of Saints Row 2 runs properly on faster CPU?
I played the Steam version, which is really glitchy with a fast CPU (using Cheat Engine to slow it down fixes it, but I'd rather not have to bother with something like that)
game in general was an unoptimized mess. Virtually unplayable at launch. Doubt it
 
Anyone know if the GOG version of Saints Row 2 runs properly on faster CPU?
I played the Steam version, which is really glitchy with a fast CPU (using Cheat Engine to slow it down fixes it, but I'd rather not have to bother with something like that)

Looks like it Saints Row 2 on GOG.com
... or not... not sure who's correct in the reviews.
 
One of the things I like about this is that GOG constantly has sales where you get a bigger discount if you buy all the games in the promotion, except the ones that you already own. That is (was) a problem when you already own several of them... on Steam.
 
lol. I connect my GoG account with my Steam account and I get a message "Connecting.. This may take several days"
 
I wonder if Valve is getting ready to buy out GoG. :(

I just got an email from GoG: "Our optional GOG Connect service is subject to Valve legal rules—please follow them. Check out the GOG Connect section of our Privacy Policy for more info."
 
anyone else getting a "OOPS, SOMETHING WENT WRONG." error (503 (Service Unavailable) in inspector)?
 
Now it's just repeatedly saying "oops, something went wrong, try again".

Something tells me it's gonna wind up a cluster fuck. lol
 
I wonder if Valve is getting ready to buy out GoG. :(

I just got an email from GoG: "Our optional GOG Connect service is subject to Valve legal rules—please follow them. Check out the GOG Connect section of our Privacy Policy for more info."

Or it could be just a "don't get us in fucking trouble with valve" statement. Valve isn't known to buy out companies, so if this were true, it'd be very unusual.
 
If they're not DRM free copies, then they will be?

And if they will be (DRM free), what practical difference will it make? Nevermind they're 22 old, mostly no-name titles (ie Witcher 1, but not 2 and 3).

Let's remember that it is the publisher that sets the DRM=enable/disable toggle when publishing their game to the steam marketplace, not Valve. DRM is not a Valve requirement in order for games to appear in the steam marketplace.

Thus this doesn't change anything - publishers avoiding GOG because of the lack of DRM publishing option will continue to avoid GOG regardless of "GOG Connect".
 
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Not sure I will do this GOG connect. As to the Saint's Row 2. The driving is very very very bad. Even though Gentlemen of the Row fixed a lot of things. Driving is still a mess. The game itself is a lot of fun and a good story. The ending is a bit abrupt.
 
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Steam itself is DRM.

It's just DRM that stays out of the way enough for (most of) us to not care.

Wrong. Steam itself is a game downloader, and only becomes DRM if the publisher chooses Steamworks CEG (Custom Executable Generation) when they publish a game to that marketplace. In other words Valve has no requirement for games to use the Steam launcher in order to be sold in their marketplace.

If the publisher chooses not to enable DRM when publishing the game to steam's marketplace, then the game can be copied freely to another location and can be run launcher-free. There's a pretty big list of these titles:

List of DRM-free games

The Big List of DRM-Free Games on Steam | PCGamingWiki
 
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Wrong. Steam itself is a game downloader, and only becomes DRM if the publisher chooses Steamworks CEG (Custom Executable Generation) when they publish a game to that marketplace. In other words Valve has no requirement for games to use the Steam launcher in order to be sold in their marketplace.

If the publisher chooses not to enable DRM when publishing the game to steam's marketplace, then the game can be copied freely to another location and can be run launcher-free. There's a pretty big list of these titles:

List of DRM-free games

The Big List of DRM-Free Games on Steam | PCGamingWiki

So the solution to run DRM-free games through Steam is... Go digging around in Steam's folders, see if it runs without Steam running, maybe delete a DLL... Or don't because some DRM-free games require, whereas others don't. Man, that sounds simple and easy for the average consumer.

Or... See if GOG Connect has it, allowing you to run it minus all that nonsense.
 
So the solution to run DRM-free games through Steam is... Go digging around in Steam's folders, see if it runs without Steam running, maybe delete a DLL... Or don't because some DRM-free games require, whereas others don't. Man, that sounds simple and easy for the average consumer.

Or... See if GOG Connect has it, allowing you to run it minus all that nonsense.

are these same average consumers that can't go two folders deep even looking for drm free games? I figured that why steam had so many users because it's easy and average consumers don't care because it just works.
 
Something tells me you're not the intended audience for this ;)
 
Something tells me you're not the intended audience for this ;)
The problem we're having is that it's not clear *who* the intended audience should be.

If you care about DRM enough to not play the game on Steam you wouldn't have purchased it on Steam in the first place.
If you're concerned about a publisher being DRM-free, this won't free you from DRM focused publishers.

It will, however, get you to log into GOG every week and "claim" your games. Sounds fun.
 
I don't understand the value either, is this good for games that require an online connection even when they're first player games? Would be useful during bad storms that take out the entire grid if that's the case.
 
No thanks, there has always been a way around the DRM mess for the savvy gamer. Sad thing is that working your way around the DRM stuff is normally funner than the game itself.

I'll be sticking with Steam only, they have been a good service.
 
It's odd to me that this option is FREE but yet people are turning it down like its bad candy from the guy in the van down by the river... :facepalm:
 
I fail to see any value in this.
Sounds like a way to entice people to visit GoG.
 
And what practical difference will that make? Be specific. Or is it just a psychological one?

Peace of mind that I have another copy available to me, DRM free. So yes, psychologically & practically sound in my opinion.
 
I see this as a way to get more people into the GOG universe. I just installed the GOG Galaxy client as I purchased the Witcher 3 on disc but did not have a DVD-ROM. GOG took my code and allowed me to download. I never got patches but the GOG Galaxy client will do that. Reinstalled the game and OH BOY they offer a lot of bandwidth! Fully saturated my TWC 300 Mbs connection; was getting up to 45 MB/sec. Not many sites supply at these speeds. I see myself using GOG more in the future.
 
Ya I do love steam, but I think gog is a good and worthy competitor and I have tons of games through them.
 
Can't connect to the internet? Steam account hacked? Something else about Steam interfering? The GOG copy is yours to keep independent of all that crap.

Can't connect to Internet is irrelevant since Offline launching has been a Steam feature for eons. Steam account hacked, okay, valid even if extreme/fringe scenario.

Just playing devil's advocate here because it seems there really is only a psychological difference that anyone can seem to offer - I fail to see any meaningful day to day benefit of running a game launcher-free versus through Steam. In both cases the game launches whether you're online or offline, game runs the same either way.
 
It takes this many posts for someone to understand some of the pitfalls of using Steam? I can think of a few right off the bat that would have been a game changer. Imagine if Minecraft had been on Steam when it came out. It probably would have crumbled in a hurry. The reason? Dedicated servers. It was already a big mess because every time the game creators patched the game, it would end up breaking more things than fixing them. People would have to constantly update their mods and it might take a week or so before everything was working well again. If you had that game on steam, you would be forced to patch it every time you wanted to play the game, which would have destroyed the modding community. I'm playing another game on steam right now that I do wish I had a DRM free copy of so if / when something does break, I don't have to break my server to conform to the patches. Thankfully my stuff still worked the last time the game auto patched and I couldn't connect to my server. I was able to update the server without breaking the mods on it. Next time I might not be so lucky.

The other big thing comes in the form of who can play it. I own a copy of Sims 3, I bought it under my account. If my SO wants to play it, they can use family sharing, but only if I'm not playing another game. If I had a GOG copy of that game, it wouldn't matter. They could play something I purchased while I played another game that I purchased.
 
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