14 DAY TRIAL // The folks over at GOG.com have been tinkering with the idea to create a platform to rival Steam for quite some time, and now GOG Galaxy is ready to be tested by everyone.
Polish company CD Projekt RED has been doing a very good job keeping old games alive so far, and it's starting to make bolder steps into the realm of modern video games.
The DRM-free online gaming platform has left alpha, and is now in open beta, on Windows and Mac, with the Linux version to follow somewhere down the line.
The online service is truly optional, and that seems to be the defining trait of pretty much everything it can do. Players don't need to be online when they play their games, which is a big plus for many.
However, you might say that Steam also allows that with its offline mode. Well now, what GOG Galaxy does is to take things a step further, by allowing users to fully personalize their experience by opting to turn off features like automatic updates, and even rolling back updates in order to prevent them from breaking their favorite mods or glitches.
Galaxy looks pretty appealing so far
Furthermore, GOG is cross-play enabled with Steam, so that means that you can play with your friends no matter where you purchased the game, without the need for any third-party apps or accounts.
Like one would expect, Galaxy comes with a slew of secondary enhancements, each of the game offering achievements and statistics, in addition to automatic updates.
The entire idea behind the platform is to make its slew of optional features and functions enticing enough that it becomes something that enhances the quality of your gaming experience.
For the time being, GOG Galaxy has over 1,000 titles to choose from at launch, with more games to be added over time. The first genuinely big game to hit the platform is CD Projekt RED's very own The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, due out on May 19.