No, but they support MAC now. I had a little reactionary chuckle reading that. I know the Apple arm chipsets have been really good, and most games from gog are not very demanding, its just funny to me that historically Mac has not been known for gaming and they get support before Linux. Shout out to the Heroic Launcher Team.
More like, Linux supports GOG and they don’t try to stop it.
The thing you want is the Heroic Games Launcher, you can login to your GOG/Epic/Amazon and install/launch games (using WINE/Proton) pretty much like using Steam.
It’s even available as a Flatpak so you can use it on the Steam Deck.
But why do you need a launcher though? Is it to play games socially or something?
I just launch from the start menu. My issue is that there aren’t enough Linux titles, but at least GOG is very good about marking Linux titles and making them searchable.
There’s this revolutionary new technology I guess the start menu gamers haven’t caught onto yet known as “cloud saves” which make it a lot easier to continue playing games on different devices and through uninstalls.
So I can keep my library of games I own in one place, install it on my OS and (ideally) maintain them (patches, mods, scripts etc).
If they really wanted to be a source of competition maybe even something like the community hub of sorts where you could download the aforementioned patches or fixes for your games but primarily for centralisation of my library in app form.
Yeah, patches and updates is probably a good use case. GOG should probably just make a command line tool for Linux modeled after something like apt, with the difference that you need to log in to access your purchases. I think many users would also appreciate a curated directory of mods.
GOG does not have a Linux launcher. There were some rumblings about focusing on Linux development when there was a change of hands, but we still have to see anything coming from that.
However, GOG does host Linux builds of games where available.
GOG games run just fine on Linux, some native and some under Wine\Proton (almost entirely on the game’s devs, but GOG does have their support program to get Wine working on older unsupported games).
GOG Galaxy, their launcher app, does not have a Linux version. You have to download games off their website directly or use Lutris, Heroic, or some other third party management platform to manage them. The advantage of using a game manager–aside from easier monitored game downloads, automatic updates, and community features–is that they’re usually set up Wine for you as well, which can be annoying to set up and use correctly.
I did not at all like using launchers back when I gamed in Windows, but I really got around to liking Lutris now that I game in Linux - it integrates with my entire games collection (including older titles from physical media), is not trying at all to push me to buy, buy, buy and it doesn’t get in my way when all I want is to start a game and have fun (i.e. no waiting for store app or game updates).
Also I figured out how to configure it to run my games sandboxed with networking disabled, so that’s my default game launch config now. Can’t do that at all with Steam.
Finally, it’s way more flexible when it comes to force the more stubborn Windows games to run in Linux (including the funny and more extreme case of a certain game that wouldn’t run in Steam no matter what I did, but the pirated version wasn’t that hard to get to run fine in Lutris).
That is GOG Galaxy. So, “Does GOG Galaxy support Linux?” is a different question than “Does GOG support Linux?”, and the answer to that question is “no”. But if you really need a local launcher software like that for some reason, there is Heroic Launcher, which definitely does support Linux. Though realistically, you don’t need GOG Galaxy, Heroic Launcher, or any similar software to play the games. GOG is just a storefront to purchase DRM-free games. You can simply download those game install files using a web browser and install/run them normally.
Yeah, but if they dobt put any effort in, I consider them non supporting. They used to say things like working on it or coming soon. But they never did.
So as far as I am concerned, they dobt support Linux.
Have you ever even tried Heroic or Lutris as launchers rather than the store-specific launchers?!
They integrate with pretty much all big stores so you can see your entire games collection (not just the subset for a single store). Also they’re way (WAY) more customisable and flexible in how you run you game, so for example most of my games running in Lutris run behind a proper sandbox (firejail) with networking disabled (something that the No DRM of GOG games also helps make possible, as to be sold via GOG games can’t require a network connection to run).
Furter, the Open Source launchers don’t care how you sourced some of your games - if you have it you can add it there and launch it, even if it’s an old game with a CD installer or something you got from sailing the high seas.
I have both the Steam Store App and Lutris and whilst Steam has a slicker UI and deeper integration with many games from that Store (for stuff like Achievements), using Lutris is IMHO a better experience, especially when it comes to supporting my entire games collection, what I have access from the UI to tweak to get the more stubborn Windows games to run in Linux (you can easilly change actual launchers - including but no limited to Proton - as well as seriously customise how the game is run), overall privacy protection and digital safety (the whole sandboxing with networking disable thing) and, curiously, even because games in Lutris launch way faster since unlike Steam when I launch a game in Lutris I’m not constantly forced to wait for the store app to update before the actual game starts.
Things like Lutris and Heroic are done following an Open Source ethos (highly customizable, which also means you can get overwhelmed with options if you try and change anything from the defaults) and no trying to serve objectives which are store-specific (i.e. they’re not at all trying to do what’s good for that store, such as shoving adverts in front of you to buy more games or supporting high integration of specific games and a specific store).
Whilst in Windows I actually tended to avoid launchers (literally installed GOG Galaxy once, checked it out and then uninstalled it), after switching to Linux I have come around to really appreciate Lutris. I haven’t got around to appreciate Steam all that much - it constantly gets in my way when all I want is to enjoy the game (generally because I often start the game from a desktop shortcut and have to wait for Steam to update before the game starts) and it’s a bigger hassle to try and tweak stubborn Windows games to run in Linux via Steam than via Lutris and, of course, there’s the whole “can’t cut networking for it” thing.
Absolutelly, GOG’s lack of support for Linux beyond just having Linux versions of some games available (which sometimes don’t even work well) and the open REST API so that open launchers like Heroic and Lutris can talk to the store and fetch and install games directly, is a negative.
At the same time, the Steam app is also an inferior game launcher versus Lutris and Heroic, and I suspect so are all game store specific game launchers since they’re designed first and foremost to benefit the store, whilst Open Source game launchers are designed to benefit the user.
Does GOG support Linux?
No, but they support MAC now. I had a little reactionary chuckle reading that. I know the Apple arm chipsets have been really good, and most games from gog are not very demanding, its just funny to me that historically Mac has not been known for gaming and they get support before Linux. Shout out to the Heroic Launcher Team.
More like, Linux supports GOG and they don’t try to stop it.
The thing you want is the Heroic Games Launcher, you can login to your GOG/Epic/Amazon and install/launch games (using WINE/Proton) pretty much like using Steam.
It’s even available as a Flatpak so you can use it on the Steam Deck.
4 replies and all of them “yes but actually no”.
I’ve been waiting for GOG Galaxy to be Linux compatible for over a decade. When they start supporting my OS I’ll start supporting their store.
But why do you need a launcher though? Is it to play games socially or something?
I just launch from the start menu. My issue is that there aren’t enough Linux titles, but at least GOG is very good about marking Linux titles and making them searchable.
There’s this revolutionary new technology I guess the start menu gamers haven’t caught onto yet known as “cloud saves” which make it a lot easier to continue playing games on different devices and through uninstalls.
So I can keep my library of games I own in one place, install it on my OS and (ideally) maintain them (patches, mods, scripts etc).
If they really wanted to be a source of competition maybe even something like the community hub of sorts where you could download the aforementioned patches or fixes for your games but primarily for centralisation of my library in app form.
Use heroic? It allows GOG login (amongst others), and does all that.
Yeah, patches and updates is probably a good use case. GOG should probably just make a command line tool for Linux modeled after something like apt, with the difference that you need to log in to access your purchases. I think many users would also appreciate a curated directory of mods.
GOG does not have a Linux launcher. There were some rumblings about focusing on Linux development when there was a change of hands, but we still have to see anything coming from that.
However, GOG does host Linux builds of games where available.
Yes and no.
GOG games run just fine on Linux, some native and some under Wine\Proton (almost entirely on the game’s devs, but GOG does have their support program to get Wine working on older unsupported games).
GOG Galaxy, their launcher app, does not have a Linux version. You have to download games off their website directly or use Lutris, Heroic, or some other third party management platform to manage them. The advantage of using a game manager–aside from easier monitored game downloads, automatic updates, and community features–is that they’re usually set up Wine for you as well, which can be annoying to set up and use correctly.
I did not at all like using launchers back when I gamed in Windows, but I really got around to liking Lutris now that I game in Linux - it integrates with my entire games collection (including older titles from physical media), is not trying at all to push me to buy, buy, buy and it doesn’t get in my way when all I want is to start a game and have fun (i.e. no waiting for store app or game updates).
Also I figured out how to configure it to run my games sandboxed with networking disabled, so that’s my default game launch config now. Can’t do that at all with Steam.
Finally, it’s way more flexible when it comes to force the more stubborn Windows games to run in Linux (including the funny and more extreme case of a certain game that wouldn’t run in Steam no matter what I did, but the pirated version wasn’t that hard to get to run fine in Lutris).
GOG is just a storefront. The specific titles you purchase on that storefront may or may not offer Linux files.
But gog makes a launcher and library tool. But not for Linux.
That is GOG Galaxy. So, “Does GOG Galaxy support Linux?” is a different question than “Does GOG support Linux?”, and the answer to that question is “no”. But if you really need a local launcher software like that for some reason, there is Heroic Launcher, which definitely does support Linux. Though realistically, you don’t need GOG Galaxy, Heroic Launcher, or any similar software to play the games. GOG is just a storefront to purchase DRM-free games. You can simply download those game install files using a web browser and install/run them normally.
Yeah, but if they dobt put any effort in, I consider them non supporting. They used to say things like working on it or coming soon. But they never did.
So as far as I am concerned, they dobt support Linux.
Have you ever even tried Heroic or Lutris as launchers rather than the store-specific launchers?!
They integrate with pretty much all big stores so you can see your entire games collection (not just the subset for a single store). Also they’re way (WAY) more customisable and flexible in how you run you game, so for example most of my games running in Lutris run behind a proper sandbox (firejail) with networking disabled (something that the No DRM of GOG games also helps make possible, as to be sold via GOG games can’t require a network connection to run).
Furter, the Open Source launchers don’t care how you sourced some of your games - if you have it you can add it there and launch it, even if it’s an old game with a CD installer or something you got from sailing the high seas.
I have both the Steam Store App and Lutris and whilst Steam has a slicker UI and deeper integration with many games from that Store (for stuff like Achievements), using Lutris is IMHO a better experience, especially when it comes to supporting my entire games collection, what I have access from the UI to tweak to get the more stubborn Windows games to run in Linux (you can easilly change actual launchers - including but no limited to Proton - as well as seriously customise how the game is run), overall privacy protection and digital safety (the whole sandboxing with networking disable thing) and, curiously, even because games in Lutris launch way faster since unlike Steam when I launch a game in Lutris I’m not constantly forced to wait for the store app to update before the actual game starts.
Things like Lutris and Heroic are done following an Open Source ethos (highly customizable, which also means you can get overwhelmed with options if you try and change anything from the defaults) and no trying to serve objectives which are store-specific (i.e. they’re not at all trying to do what’s good for that store, such as shoving adverts in front of you to buy more games or supporting high integration of specific games and a specific store).
Whilst in Windows I actually tended to avoid launchers (literally installed GOG Galaxy once, checked it out and then uninstalled it), after switching to Linux I have come around to really appreciate Lutris. I haven’t got around to appreciate Steam all that much - it constantly gets in my way when all I want is to enjoy the game (generally because I often start the game from a desktop shortcut and have to wait for Steam to update before the game starts) and it’s a bigger hassle to try and tweak stubborn Windows games to run in Linux via Steam than via Lutris and, of course, there’s the whole “can’t cut networking for it” thing.
Absolutelly, GOG’s lack of support for Linux beyond just having Linux versions of some games available (which sometimes don’t even work well) and the open REST API so that open launchers like Heroic and Lutris can talk to the store and fetch and install games directly, is a negative.
At the same time, the Steam app is also an inferior game launcher versus Lutris and Heroic, and I suspect so are all game store specific game launchers since they’re designed first and foremost to benefit the store, whilst Open Source game launchers are designed to benefit the user.
Kind of. You can install stuff like lutris or steamdeck plugins that connect to gog and download games for you
The cover question is: do the games support Linux? And with proton, a lot of them do
I’d recommend Bottles over Lutris due to the latter’s unfortunate use of LLMs/AI.
What does the “Linux” filter refer to then?
https://www.gog.com/en/games/new?systems=linux
Edit: I tried with a random free game. Provided was a shell script with binary data appended to it.
Native supported Linux games. Why?
Yeah, I thought that was the question. I never considered downloader/launcher, or whatever their software does.
So Linux users can install the game without having to use some translation software like Proton.
Depends on the game. A giant part of their library is, well, good old games, that only run on Windows natively